Morocco its people and places

> MOROCCO

'Ki^Z^^^t^'L

^l^

Utt tbe Sultan's palace*

MOROCCO

ITS PEOPLE AND PLACES

EDMONDO DE AMICIS,

Author of " Holland," " Constantinopli:," Etc.

TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRTEENTH ITALIAN EDITION KY

MARIA HORNOR LANSDALE

ILLUSTRATED

IN TWO VOLUMES

Vol. II

PHILADELPHIA
HENRY T. COATES & CO.

1897

DATE

SEEN BY
PRESERVATION
SERVICES
JAN 1 7 ^992

A 53/3

Copyright, 1897, by
HENRY T. COAXES & CO.

797724

CONTENTS

VOLUME II

PAGE

Fez 1

Mequinez 157

On the Sebtj 179

AziLA c 197

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME II

The publishers desire to extend their thanks to Messrs. Keen and
Mead, Architects, Mr. R. T. Hazzard and Mr. S. P. Stambach for the use
of original photographs and negatives, reproduced in photogravure by
W. H. GiLBo and A. W. Elson & Co.

page
In the Sultan's Palace, Frontispiece

A Gate of Fez, 14

Entrance to Jews' Quaktek, Fez, 18

An Interior, 26

Ministers of the Sultan, 34

Sultan Coming out of the Kasbah, .... 42

A Jewish Youth of Morocco, 52

Interior of a Dwelling, .60

Street Scene, 68

A Moorish Beggar, 75

Arab Village, 82

Bab el Ghisa, Fez, 86

Old Biskra, . .98

A Fountain of Fez, 108

A Village in the Interior, 116

Negro Village near the Borders op the Desert, . 120

(vii)

VIU LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Akab Water Carrier, 130

RiFFIAN FROM THE AtLAS MOUNTAINS, , . . .136

Fez. a Public Celebration, 148

Outside the Walls of Fez, 154

A Negro of Morocco, 168

Panorama of Mequinez, 178

Kabyle Woman, 188

El Araish Bab Manzal, 200

Tangier from the Beach, 212

FEZ.

Vol. II.— 1

FEZ.

We have not gone half a mile in the direction of
the city before we are already surrounded by a throng
of Arabs and Moors assembled from Fez and the sur-
rounding country, some on foot, some on mules or
donkeys, two riding together, like the ancient Nu-
midians, and so beside themselves with curiosity to
see us that in order to keep the way clear the soldiers
of the escort are obliged to beat them back with the
butt-ends of their muskets. The country is flat, and
the city of Fez, whose battlemented walls had been
plainly visible from the camp, now remains for some
little time entirely hidden ; then all at once it reap-
pears, and we see in front of the gates an immense
white and purple throng, resembling myriads of roses
and lilies swaying in the wind. Again the city van-
ishes, and again reappears, but this time quite close,
and between us and it are gathered the people, the
army and the court. Such pomp and splendor, such
a scene of fantastic beauty, that I dropped my reins at
that moment, just as now I drop my pen at the recol-
lection. A band of officers advances to meet us on a
gallop, salutes, and dividing into two squads, joins

(3)

4 FEZ.

the escort. Behind them comes a great crowd of
cavalry, gorgeously attired, mounted on beautiful
horses, and led by a Moor of lofty stature, wearing a
white turban and a red caftan. This is the Grand
Master of Ceremonies, Hadje Mohammed Ben Aissa,
with the officers of his suite. He is the bearer of the
Sultan's message of welcome to the ambassador, and
falls in, in his turn, with the escort.

We proceed between two lines of infantry, who
with difficulty succeed in restraining the crowd.
What soldiers they are ! Old men, middle-aged men
and boys of fifteen, twelve and even nine years ; all
alike clad in scarlet, with bare legs and yellow slip-
pers, drawn up without regard to their respective
heights, in a single line, with the commanders in front.
They present arms, each one in the manner that
seemeth best in his own eyes, with their rusty guns
terminating in crooked bayonets. One thrusts his
foot forward, another stands with legs far apart, an-
other rests his chin on his breast, another looks be-
hind him ; some of them have put their jackets over
their heads to keep off the sun ; now and then we
come to a drummer, a trumpeter, five or six flags, all
close together ; red, yellow, green, orange, held as
crosses, are carried in processions ; there are no
divisions into squads or companies j it is like two
rows of pasteboard soldiers stood up by a child.
There are negroes, mulattoes, whites and skins of an
indefinable color ; men of huge stature standing along-

FEZ.

side of children who can barely carry their guns ;
bent old men, with long white beards, resting their
elbows on their neighbors ; wild-looking figures, who
in those uniforms resemble trained apes. These all
gaze at us in open-mouthed wonder, and they stretch
away before us in two interminable lines. A second
party of horsemen advances towards us on the left,
consisting of the old Governor, Gileli Ben Amu, and
eighteen under-Governors, followed by the flower of
Fez aristocracy, all of them arrayed in white from
head to foot, like a throng of ecclesiastics. Severe
of aspect, with black beards, silken ca'ics and gilded
harness, they salute us, and wheeling round join the
escort and the suite. On we go, still between two
files of soldiers, behind whom sways the white be-
cloaked crowd, devouring us with eager eyes. Always
the same kind of soldiers, youths now for the most
part, wearing the fez and red jacket, and with bare
legs. Some have light-blue trousers, others white or
green 5 many are in their shirt-sleeves | some rest
their guns on the ground, others on their shoulders ;
this one stands well forward, that one far back. The
officers are attired according to fancy — as zuaves,
archers, spahis, Greeks, Albanians or Turks — m ith
devices braided in gold or silver, carrying swords
and cimeters, sabres, curved daggers, pistols and
poniards ; they wear high boots or yellow slippers,
without heels ; some are dressed entirely in crimson,
others all in white, others in green. They look like

6 FEZ.

the demons at a fancy ball. From time to time the
face of a European looks out from among them, re-
garding us with mingled interest and melancholy.
As many as ten flags will be in one group. The
trumpets all sound as we go by, and sometimes a
woman's fist is shaken at us threateningly between the
soldiers' heads. The city walls seem to recede the
farther we advance, and the two lines of soldiers to
stretch away before us like interminable hedges of
crimson roses.

Another group of horsemen, even more gorgeously
attired than the preceding ones, now comes to meet
us, headed by the old Minister of War, Sid- Abd- Alia
ben-Hamed, a negro mounted on a white horse, with
sky-blue housings. With him are the Military
Governor of the district, the commander of the Fez
garrison and a host of staff generals, crowned with
snow-white turbans, and wearing caftans of a hun-
dred diff'erent hues. We proceed on our way. We
have already been defiling for half an hour between
the ranks of the soldiers, and someone says there are
four miles more of them. On one side the cavalry is
now drawn up, and on the other a strange, anomalous
assemblage. Men and boys dressed in a hundred
different kinds of uniform, or rather remnants of uni-
forms ; half carrying arms and half without ; some
with cloaks, others with rags wound around their
heads, and others again bareheaded; some half-naked,
with features belonging to the desert, to the sea-shore,

FEZ. 7

to the Atlas Mountains, to the Rif, to the province of
Sus ; shaved heads and long locks of hair ; giants and
dwarfs ; wild-beast faces, and faces of dead men ;
phantoms, puppets, theatrical-looking beings ; people
gathered together. Heaven only knows where from,
to swell those terrifying crowds. Back of them, on
two high banks of earth running parallel with the
road, throngs of veiled women are assembled, who
shout and gesticulate in sign of wonder, of contempt
and of enjoyment, too, as they lift their children high
above their heads that they may obtain a better
view.

We now approach a lofty gateway, crowned with
battlements. The music of a band breaks on our
ears, and immediately all the drums and trumpets of
the army burst forth, making a most infernal din.
The order for the grand entry is then taken ; all those
dignitaries, generals, courtiers, ministers, officers and
slaves crowd about us ; our escort is disbanded, our
servants scattered, and we ourselves, separated from
one another, are swept forward with irresistible im-
petus in a torrent of horses and turbans, a confusion
of color, a phantasmagoria of strange, wild faces,
amid the din of strident voices, the rush and turmoil
of a battle ; a spectacle so barbarous and so magnifi-
cent that we are at once charmed and bewildered.

Passing through a large gateway we look around
expecting to find ourselves surrounded by the houses
of the city, instead of which nothing is to be seen but

8 FEZ.

the walls, and high battlemented towers ; to the left is
a Jcubba, with a green dome, shaded by a couple of
palm-trees ; all around the Jcubba, at the foot of the
walls, on the towers, in every direction — more peo-
ple. We pass through another gate, and at last enter
a street flanked by houses.

I have only the most confused recollection of what
I saw during that ride through the city, so dazed was
I by the scene we had just passed through, as well as
preoccupied by my efforts to preserve my life, as we
were riding over very rough stones and amid such a
press of. horses that it would have been a bad look-
out for him who should have made a misstep. I only
remember that we passed through a number of nar-
row, empty streets, between rows of very tall houses,
mounting and descending, choked by dust and deaf-
ened by the tramp of the horses' hoofs ; that after a
good half-hour's ride we threaded a labyrinth of steep,
narrow little lanes, through which we had to pass in
single file ; that we finally dismounted before a small
doorway, between two rows of scarlet soldiers, who
presented arms, and that finally we entered our own
abode. What a delicious sensation it was ! The
palace assigned to us proved to be a princely resi-
dence, built in pure Moorish style, having a small
garden, shaded by rows of lemon and orange-trees.
From this garden the inner court-yard was reached
by a very low doorway, and a corridor barely wide
enough to admit of the passage of one person at a

FEZ. 9

time. Around the court-yard were twelve white
pillars, connected by arches shaped like horse-
shoes, supporting, on a level with the second floor, an
arched gallery, furnished with a wooden balustrade.
The pavement of the court-yard, of the gallery, and
of the rooms was all of magnificent mosaics, the
squares enameled in the most vivid colors ; the arches
were arabesqued and painted ; the balustrades carved
in openwork of the most exquisite delicacy ; the en-
tire edifice so harmonious and of so graceful a de-
sign as to be worthy of the architects of the Alham-
bra. There was a fountain in the middle of the court,
and another with three jets of water played in an
alcove in one of the walls overlaid with mosaic stars
and roses. From the centre of every arch hung a
large Moorish lantern. One arm of the building ex-
tended along the side of the garden, its charming
fagade divided into three arabesqued and painted
arches, before which a third fountain played. And
in addition there were all those little court-yards and
corridors and tiny rooms and innumerable recesses of
an eastern house. A few iron bedsteads, without
sheets or bedding ; some pendulum clocks, a mirror
in the court-yard, two chairs and a small table for
the use of the ambassador, and a half a dozen pitchers
and basins composed the entire furniture of the palace.
In the principal rooms the walls Avere hung with
cloth worked in gold, and white mattresses were
spread on the floor ; not a chair, not a table, not a

10 FEZ.

single convenience of any kind. Our own furniture
would have to be brought from the camp; but to
atone for this lack there was a freshness everywhere,
everywhere the splash of water ; shade, perfume, a
something inexpressibly soft and voluptuous in the
shapes, the colors, the light, the air, which made one
gay and pensive by turns. The entire building was
surrounded by a lofty wall, and beyond the wall ex-
tended a labyrinth of narrow, deserted streets. Hardly
had we reached the court-yard when the ministers and
other great personages began to arrive, and each sat
talking with the ambassador for fifteen minutes,
caressing his feet all the while.

The Minister of Finance interested me most of all.
He was a Moor, about fifty years old, of forbidding
aspect, with a smooth face, dressed entirely in white
and wearing a large turban. The longer I looked at
him the harder I found it to believe that that man
could have anything in common with Minghetti and
Sella. An interpreter told me that he had a very
fine mind, and adduced in proof an anecdote to the
effect that having on one occasion seen one of those
mechanical contrivances for performing arithmetical
calculations, he had made the identical calculations
in the same length of time and with similar results.
One should have seen the air of reverential awe with
which Selam, Ali, Civo and all the other Arab ser-
vants regard these personages, who, next to the Sul-
tan himself, embodied in their estimation the utmost

FEZ. 11

height of science, power and glory possible to attain
to on this earth.

When the visits were ended we proceeded to take
possession of our palace. The two artists, the doc-
tor and I had the rooms overlooking the garden ; the
others, those on the court. Interpreters, cooks, sail-
ors, servants, soldiers, each one found his own little
niche, and in a few hours the aspect of the building
had completely changed. When all had been satis-
factorily adjusted we began to think about seeing the
city. Ussi and Biseo sallied forth first, then the
commander and the captain, while I determined to
wait until the next day, in order to see everything
with entirely fresh eyes. The others went off two by
two, surrounded, like malefactors, by troops of foot-
soldiers armed with guns and clubs, and it was an
hour before they returned, an hour which seemed to
me an eternity. At last they reappeared, covered
with dust and dripping with perspiration, as though
fresh from a battle-field, and showing by their ges-
tures the excitement they were laboring under, even
before they began to utter such disjointed phrases as :
" Big city, great crowds, enormous mosques, naked
saints, curses, blows, sights from the other world."
The most entertaining experience was that of Ussi.
It seemed that on one of the very crowded thorough-
fares, notwithstanding the vigilance of the soldiers, a
young girl of about fifteen had flung herself on his
back like a fury, and fetching him a vigorous blow

12 FEZ.

on the back of the neck, had shouted : " Accursed be
these Christians ; there is not a corner left in Morocco
where they do not thrust themselves in !" Such was
the first welcome extended to Italian art within the
walls of Fez.

Late that night I made a tour through the palace.
Upon the landings, in front of each bed-room, at the
foot of the stairs, in the garden, soldiers were stretched,
wrapped in their cloaks and sleeping profoundly. Be-
fore the small door leading into the court-yard the
faithful Hamed Ben Kasen was snoring away in the
open air, lying on a mat with his sword beside him.
The light of the lanterns shone dimly upon the mosaics
set in the walls and pavements, making them look as
though they were studded with precious stones, and
lending to the entire building that air of mysterious
magnificence proper to a royal palace. The sky was
covered with stars ; a light breeze stirred among the
orange-trees in the garden ; through the silence of the
night could be distinctly heard the ripple of the River
of Pearls, the gurgle of the fountains, the ticking of
the clocks, and from time to time the penetrating
voices of the sentinels as they chanted prayers from
the various external doorways of the palace. What
enchanting hours I passed that night standing with
my face pressed against the iron bars of my window,
through which poured a flood of moonlight, thinking
of the great unknown city extending all about me,
of home, of my friends, of the Sultan's beauties, of

FEZ. i3

the other world, of a thousand and one strange or be-
loved objects !

On the following day we went out in parties of
five, each accompanied by an interpreter and escorted
by ten infantry soldiers ; one of the latter wore but-
tons stamped with a likeness of Queen Victoria, many
of these red uniforms being obtained second-hand
from the English soldiers at Gibraltar, Two of the
guard marched before, two behind and three on either
side of us. The first carried muskets, and the others
clubs and knotted cords, and their countenances were
such that when I think of them even now, I bless the
ship that conveyed me safely back to Europe. The
interpreter asked what we wished to see. " All of
Fez " was our reply, and he accordingly conducted
us, first of all, to the heart of the city. Here I might
well say. Who will give me a voice and put words
into my mouth! How can I possibly express the
wonder, amazement, pity and melancholy I experi-
enced on beholding that spectacle, at once so majes-
tic and so mournful ? The first impression made on
one is of an immense, decrepit old city, slowly decay-
ing away. Lofty houses, which seem to be built one
upon another, falling into ruin, the plaster dropping
ofi", cracked from top to bottom, propped up on all
sides, having no other apertures but a few slits in the
forms of crosses or loop-holes. Long extents of
street, flanked on cither side by high walls, as bare
as fortifications 5 streets leading first up and then

14 FEZ.

down, choked with rubbish, with stones, with debris
from the tottering buildings, turning and twisting
every thirty feet ; on all sides long-covered alleys,
dark as subterranean tunnels, through which one
must feel his way. Narrow lanes closed at one end,
recesses, caverns, damp, uninviting mazes, cluttered
with bones, dead animals and rotten straw ; all seen
through a sort of twilight darkness that adds inex-
pressibly to the general melancholy. In some places
the ground is so uneven, the dust so thick, the smell
so abominable, the flies so importunate, that we are
obliged to pause to recover our breath. In half an
hour we have wound in and out to such an extent
that could our route be traced on paper it would rival
the most intricate arabesques in the Alhambra.
From time to time we hear the noise of a millwheel,
the murmur of water, the rattle of a loom, a chant-
ing of nasal voices, issuing, we are informed, from a
boys' school, but there is nothing to be seen in any
direction. We approach the centre of the metropolis,
and begin to meet more people ; the men stop to let
us go by, regarding us with a look of wonder ; the
women turn their backs, or get out of sight ; the chil-
dren cry out and take to their heels ; the boys mut-
ter and clinch their fists, furtively keeping one eye
on the soldiers' clubs. We catch glimpses of foun-
tains richly ornamented with mosaics, arabesqued
doorways, arched court-yards, the scattered remains
of a beautiful Arabian architecture destroyed by time.

H eate ot 3fC3»

FEZ. 15

Every moment a plunge into a covered passage-way
lands us in darkness; then comes a short interval of
pale light, then utter darkness again. We now enter
one of the principal streets, six or seven feet wide
and crowded with people. Every one turns around
or presses forward to see us. The soldiers shout,
push and strike out to right and left in order to clear
the way, being obliged at length to content them-
selves with making a sort of bulwark with their chests
on either side of us, holding on by one another's
hands, so as not to become separated in the throng.
We are conscious of a thousand eyes fastened upon
us j we are gasping, dripping with perspiration ; on
we go, very slowly though, and stopping every now
and then to let a Moor pass on horseback, or a don-
key loaded with bleeding sheep's-heads, or a camel
carrying a veiled lady. To the right and left are
crowded bazaars, court-yards of inns filled with mer-
chandise, doorways of mosques, through which we
catch glimpses of long vistas of white arches and
prostrate forms of worshippers. As far as the eye
can reach nothing is to be seen along the street but
a mass of hoods, all white, and the owners apparently
walking on tiptoe. The air is heavy with the pene-
trating odor of aloes, spices, incense, hiff. We seem
to be promenading through a huge druggists' estab-
lishment. We pass groups of boys, their heads
covered with scars and scabs ; deformed old women
without a hair on their crowns and with bare breasts,

16 FEZ.

who make way for us unwillingly and hurl abuse at
us ; crazy men, almost entirely naked, their heads
crowned with flowers and feathers, and branches of
trees in their hands, laughing, singing, repeating the
same word over and over, and jumping up and down
in front of the soldiers, who drive them off with blows.
Turning into another street we encounter a saint ex-
traordinarily fat, and naked from head to foot, who
drags himself along with difficulty, holding one hand
before him and leaning with the other on a stick
wrapped about with a red rag. He looks at us
askance in passing, and mutters something I cannot
make out. A little further on four soldiers are drag-
ging along a torn and bleeding wretch — a thief
caught in the act — while a crowd of boys run after
them crying : " His hand ! His hand ! Cut off his
hand !" In another street we meet two men carry-
ing a litter on which a corpse is lying ; it is dried
like a mummy, and wrapped in a white linen bag
fastened about the neck, waist and knees. I keep
asking myself Avhere I am, whether I am awake or
asleep, and if the city of Fez and the city of Paris
really are on the same planet. We enter a bazaar ;
everywhere the same crowd. The shops, like those in
Tangier, are caves dug out of the Avails. The money-
changers sit on the ground though, with heaps of coins
lying before them. We walk through the stuff bazaar,
the crowd pushing against us on all sides ; the slip-
per, earthenware, metal ornament bazaars forming,

FEZ. 17

all of them together, a labyrinth of tortuous streets
covered by a ruinous roof of cane and tree-branches.
Then we visit the vegetable market, crowded with
women, who lift their arms in the air and curse us ;
and then, turning our backs upon the central part of
the city, we again find ourselves amid steep winding
streets, covered alleys, dark passage-ways, mosques,
fountains, arched doorways, the whir of mills, the
noise of nasal voices, women who run to hide them-
selves, sickening filth, choking dust, until at length,
issuing from one of the gates, we start to walk around
the outside of the walls. The city is built in a great
figure eight, winding around two hills, on whose sum-
mits tower the ruins of a couple of ancient square
fortresses ; beyond the hills rise a circle of moun-
tains, and the River of Pearls divides the city in two,
new Fez lying on the left and old Fez on the right
bank, while a line of ancient battlemented walls and
large towers of dark-colored stucco, ruined in many
places, encircles the whole.

From the heights a view is obtained of the entire
city, a myriad of white houses crowned by terraces,
above which rise charming minarets decorated with
mosaics, gigantic palms, masses of verdure, little bat-
tlemented towers and small green domes. At the
first glance we realize the great size of the ancient
metropolis, of which the present city is merely the
skeleton. In the neighborhood of the gates, and on
the heights for a long distance, the country is strewn
Vol. n.— 2

18 FEZ.

with tombs and ruins ; kuhhas, saints' houses, zaouias,
arches of aqueducts, sepulchres, huge foundations,
fragments of buildings, which look like the remains
of a place devastated by cannon and devoured by
flames. The ground lying between the city and the
higher of the two hills which flank it, is all laid out
in gardens, a thick tangled wood of mulberries, olives,
palms, fruit-trees and enormous poplars clothed in
luxuriant foliage and overrun with vines, in whose
midst fountains play, rividets wind in and out, and
little canals gleam between lofty banks covered with
grass and flowers. The opposite height is crowned
with thousands of aloes twice a man's height. Along
the walls lie great deposits of earth, deep ditches and
masses of vegetation, shattered fragments of bas-
tions and crumbling towers, a jumble of ruins and
foliage, both awe-inspiring and mournful, recalling
the most picturesque portions of the walls of Con-
stantinople. We pass by the Ghisa Gate, the Iron
Gate, the Gate of the Father of Leather-dressers,
the New Gate, the Burned Gate, the Gate that Opens,
the Gate of the Lion, the Sidi Buxida Gate, the Gate
of the Father of Utility, and enter the new town
through the Butter Niche Gate. Here we find large
gardens, vast open spaces, wide squares surrounded
by battlemented walls, beyond which again are other
squares and other walls, and arched gateways, and
towers and bridges, and beautiful distant views of
hill and mountain. Some of the gates are very lofty,

Entrance to Jews' iSluatter, 3fe3»

FEZ. 19

with iron framework, and all are studded with enor-
mous nails. As we approach the River of Pearls we
pass a decomposed horse lying in the middle of the
street ; farther on, beneath the walls, a hundred or
more Arab laundry-men are jumping up and down on
heaps of clothes piled along the bank. We meet
patrols of soldiers, court personages on horseback,
small processions of camels, groups of country-women
with children on their backs, who cover their faces
as they pass, and at last we see some smiling, friendly
countenances ; these are in the Mella, the Jews' quar-
ter, where we are accorded a really triumphant re-
ception. The population presses out onto balconies
and through doorways, comes down into the street,
calls one another, runs out of all the lanes and by-
ways. Long-haired men with handkerchiefs tied
under their chins like old women, and wrapped in
their sweeping garments, bow low with polite smiles;
the women, very fair skinned and plump, dressed in
green and red stuffs embroidered and braided in gold,
wish us biienos dias, and say a thousand friendly
things with their brilliant black, eyes ; some of the
children run up to kiss our hands. In order to escape
from this ovation, as well as from the extreme filth,
we take a cross-street, which brings us out on a field
covered with large tombs built of masonry in the
form of parallelepipeds, white as snow, which we are
informed is the Jewish cemetery. From thence we
re-enter the city, and after another mile's tramp

20 FEZ.

through dirty, winding streets, boiled by the sun, the
object of lowering glances and muttered curses from
thousands of eyes and lips, we at last, with whirling
brains and aching bones, reach the palace of the am-
bassador.

" O Fez !" says an Arabian historian, " all the
beauty of the world is found in thee !" and he pro-
ceeds to record how Fez has ever been the seat of all
wisdom and science, of peace and of religion ; the
mother and queen of all the cities of the Moghreb ;
that her inhabitants are endowed with the most acute
and profound intellects of any of the dwellers in
Morocco ; that everything in and about her is pecu-
liarly blessed of God, even the water of the River
of Pearls, which cures gravel, softens the skin, per-
fumes the clothing, destroys insects, renders the pleas-
ures of the senses sweeter (if it be drunk fasting),
and contains precious stones of inestimable value.
And no less poetically do the Arabian writers tell the
story of its founding. When, towards the close of the
eighth century, the Abbasides split into two parties, a
prince of the vanquished side, Edris-ben-Abdallah,
took refuge in Moghreb, at a spot not far distant from
where the city of Fez now stands. Here he dwelt
alone, passing his time in prayer and meditation, until
in the course of time his illustrious origin and holy
life brought him such renown among the Berbers of
that district that they elected him their chief. Little
by little, by force of arms and the influence and

FEZ. 21

authority exerted by a descendant of Ali and Fathma,
he succeded in extending his dominions over a large
part of the country, converting idolators, Christians
and Jews to Islamism by force. At length he became
so powerful that he aroused the jealousy of Harun al
Rashid, the Calif of the East, who caused him to be
poisoned by a pretended physician, in the hope that
with him would die his infant Empire. But the
people of Barbary accorded Edris a solemn burial,
and recognized his posthumous son, Edris-ebn-Edris,
as their ruler. The new Calif mounted the throne at
the age of twelve, consolidated and extended his
father's dominion, and may rightfully be called the
founder of the Empire of Morocco, which, until the
close of the tenth century, remained in the hands of
his dynasty. It was this self-same Edris who laid
the first foundations of Fez on the 3d of February,
808, " in a valley lying between two lofty mountains,
covered with luxuriant woods, watered by a thousand
streams, and situated on the right bank of the River
of Pearls." Tradition gives various explanations of
the name. When digging the foundations the work-
men found a great axe (the Arabic for which is Fez)
weighing sixty pounds, and the city took its name
from this circumstance j so says one legend. Another
states that Edris worked with the laborers himself on
the foundations, and that in token of gratitude they
presented him with an axe made of silver and gold,
and that, wishing to perpetuate the memory of this

22 .FEZ.

act of homage, he had called the city Fez. Accord-
ing to still another account, the Calif's secretary asked
his master what name he proposed giving the new
city. " The name," replied Edris, " of the first per-
son whom we meet." Presently they met a man
and asked him his name. It was Fares, but as the
man stammered, it sounded like Fez, and consequently
the city was called that. Others, again, say that
there was once a large city situated on the bank of
the River of Pearls named Zef, which, after existing
eighteen hundred years, was destroyed before Islam-
ism shone upon the earth, and that Edris simply re-
versed the letters Zef and made Fez. However all
this may be, it is certain that the new capital grew
rapidly, and by the beginning of the tenth century
already rivalled Bagdad in splendor, embracing
within its walls the mosques of Karaouin and of
Edris — both having been previously in existence —
the one the largest and the other the most highly
venerated mosque in all Africa, and was termed the
Mecca of the West. Towards the middle of the
eleventh century Gregory IX. established an Epis-
copal See there. Under the Almohadean dynasty it
had thirty suburbs, eight hundred mosques, ninety
thousand houses, ten thousand shops, eighty-six gates,
vast hospitals, magnificent baths, a large library, en-
riched with many precious Greek and Latin manu-
scripts, schools of philosophy, physics, astronomy and
the languages, to which scholars crowded from all over

FEZ. 23

Europe and the East. It was called the Athens of
Africa, and during one period was the scene of a
perpetual fair, to which were brought the products of
three continents. European commerce had its bazaars
and inns, and what between Moors, Arabs, Berbers,
Jews, negroes, Turks, Christians and renegades, there
was a flourishing population, numbering five hundred
thousand. And now how changed it all is ! Almost
all the gardens have disappeared, the greater part of
the Mosques are in ruins, of that great library noth-
ing is left but a few worm-eaten volumes ; the schools
have died out, commerce languishes, the buildings are
falling to pieces and the population is reduced to con-
siderably less than one-fifth of what it once was. Fez
is now merely the enormous carcass of an abandoned
metropolis, lying in the midst of the great cemetery
of Morocco. Our greatest desire, after that prelimi-
nary walk through Fez, was to visit the two famous
mosques — Karaouin and Mulai Edris — but we were
obliged to content ourselves with what we could see
of them from the street, as Christians are not per-
mitted to enter them. They have doors decorated
with mosaics, arched court-yards and long, low naves,
divided by forests of columns and bathed in mysteri-
ous light. But it must not be supposed that these
mosques are the same to-day as at the time of their
great celebrity, since the famous historian, Abd-er-
Rahman ebn-Khaldoum, writing in the fifteenth cen-
tury of the El Karaouin — " May God ennoble it more

24 FEZ.

and more/' as he says — refers to a number of decora-
tions which, even in his day, no longer existed. The
foundations of this enormous building were laid on the
first Saturday of Ramazan, in the year of our Lord
859, at the expense of a pious Kairuan woman. At
first it was a small mosque, with but four naves, but
was enlarged and embellished by successive Gov-
ernors, Emirs and Sultans. Upon the summit of the
dome, erected by Imam Ahmed ben Abey Bekir,
there glittered a golden ball, studded with pearls and
precious stones, containing the sword of Edris-ebn-
Edris, the founder of Fez. The walls of the interior
were hung with talismans to protect them from rats,
scorpions and serpents. The Mihrab — the niche
which indicates the direction of Mecca — was so mag-
nificent that the Imams were obliged to have it white-
washed, so that it should not distract the faithful from
their prayers. There was an ebony pulpit, inlaid
with ivory and gems ; two hundred and seventy col-
umns divided the interior into sixteen naves, each
having twenty-one arches ; fifteen large entrance
doors were provided for the men, and two small ones
for the women ; the interior was lighted by seven
hundred lamps, which, on the twenty-seventh night
of Ramazan, consumed three and a half quintals of
oil. AU of which particulars the historian Khaldoum
recounts with many expressions of wonder and de-
light, adding that naves, court-yards, galleries, ves-
tibules and thresholds, all measured foot by foot, the

FEZ. 25

mosque was capable of containing twenty-two thou-
sand seven hundred persons, and that, in order to
pave the court-yard alone, fifty-two thousand bricks
were employed. " Glory to Allah, Lord of the whole
earth, exceedingly merciful and King of the final
judgment day."

While waiting for the Sultan to fix a date for our
state reception, we made various excursions, in the
course of one of which I received " an impression,"
which to me, at least, was entirely new. We were
approaching the Burnt Gate, Bab-cl-Maroc, on our
way back to the city, when the vice-consul suddenly
gave an exclamation that made me shudder.

" Two heads !" said he 5 and glancing at the wall in
front of us I saw, sure enough, two long streaks of
blood, but could not make up my mind to look higher.
They told me that the heads were suspended by their
hair over the gate, one apparently that of a youth of
fifteen or so, the other of a man of twenty-five or
thirty, both Moors. We learned further that they
had been placed there during the night, the statement
being that they belonged to two rebels from the dis-
trict adjoining Algeria and had been brought from
thence to Fez, but the dripping blood made it seem
far more probable that the execution had taken place
in the city, possibly before that very gate. How-
ever that may be, we learned, in this connection,
that it is customary to send the heads of rebels from
the provinces in revolt to the seat of government.

26 FEZ.

After they have been viewed by the Sultan, the im-
perial soldiers lay hands on the first negro they happen
to meet and make him remove the brains, filling the
skull with tow and salt. This done, the heads are
suspended over one of the city gates, and after hang-
ing for several days, say at Fez, are taken down,
placed in a basket and dispatched by a courier to
Mequinez. When they have been duly exhibited
there they are sent on to Rabat, and so on from one
place to another until decomposition sets in. It
seems, however, that this course was not followed in
the case of the two heads of the Bab-el-Maroc. Since,
seeing the next day that they had disappeared, when
we asked an Arab servant what had become of them
he replied, with a gesture, " Buried," but hastened to
add, consolingly, that " a great many more were on
their way."

Two days before the state reception we were in-
vited to breakfast by Sid Musa. This personage is
not entitled Grand Vizier nor minister, nor yet secre-
tary; he is simply called Sid Musa. He was born a
slave and freed by the Sultan, who may, should he
so choose, seize everything he possesses to-morrow,
throw him into prison, or suspend his head from the
battlements of Fez without being called to account by
anyone. At the same time, however, Sid Musa is the
minister of ministers, the soul of the government, the
mind that embraces and controls everything from the
ocean to the Molouia and from the Mediterranean to

an IFutcctoi;.

FEZ. 27

the desert, and, next to the Sultan, is the most famous
personage in the Empire. It can readily be imagined
then, with what intense curiosity we set forth one
morning, surrounded, as usual, by armed guards, and
accompanied by the Kaid and the interpreters, to re-
pair to his house, situated in New Fez.

We were received at the door by a crowd of Arab
and negro servants, and entering a garden, inclosed
between high walls, saw our host awaiting us in a
small doorway at the further end, surrounded by his
officers, all dressed in white. The celebrated minis-
ter extended both hands to the ambassador with a
quick movement, bowed smilingly to us and led the
way into a small room on the ground-floor, where we
aU sat down. What an extraordinary-looking indi-
vidual he was ! For the first few minutes we could
not keep our astonished gaze off him. He was about
sixty years old, a mulatto, nearly black, of medium
height, with a huge, oblong head ; brilliant eyes which
shot piercing glances in every direction ; a large,
hooked nose ; a wide mouth, furnished with two rows of
big, white teeth ; and an enormous chin ; yet, accom-
panying these fierce features a kindly smile, benign
expression, and a manner and tone of voice that might
be termed courteous. However, those who really
know the Moors affirm that with no other people is
one so likely to be deceived by appearances as
with them. It was not, though, the soul of this man
that I would have liked to investigate, but his brain.

28 FEZ.

It is pretty certain that I would not have found much
theology there, perhaps none at all beyond a few
pages of the Koran, and then a few periods of the
history of the Empire, a few vague ideas of the
geography of the chief countries of Europe, a few
principles of astronomy, a few rules of arithmetic.
But to make up for this meagre array what pro-
found insight into the human heart ! Wliat quick-
ness of perception ! What subtle tact ! What a
mass of information concerning affairs hopelessly re-
moved from all our habits and customs ! How many
curious secrets of the royal palace ! And who knows
what strange medley of reminiscences of love and
suffering, of intrigues, of all manner of wonderful and
horrible things ! And there may well have been con-
cealed likewise beneath that white turban an estimate
of European civilization as compared with that of
Morocco not so very different from our own, so that,
had he expressed what he really thought, it might
have run thus : " Eh, gentlemen ! I know it all bet-
ter than you do yourselves." An admission, how-
ever, not likely to escape from the imprisoning folds
of that turban. The apartment in which we were
seated was, for a Moorish house, sumptuously fur-
nished, since it contained a sofa, a small table, a mir-
ror and several chairs. The walls were hung with
red and green stuffs, the ceiling painted, the floor
made of mosaic ; but it was nothing wonderful for
the residence of a minister as wealthy as Sid Musa.

FEZ. 29

After the usual interchange of compliments we were
escorted to the dining-room, situated on the other
side of the garden, Sid Miisa, according to his cus-
tom, not accompanying us. This room, like the
other, was decorated with red and green hangings ;
in one corner stood a cupboard, on top of which were
two old bunches of artificial flowers under glass cases,
and one of those little looking-glasses, with painted
frames, such as are always to be found in our village
inns. On the table were about twenty dishes, filled
with large white sugar-plums, shaped like balls and
carobs ; the china and other appointments of the
table were beautiful, and it was furnished with a great
many bottles of water, but there was not so much as
a drop of wine. We took our places, and were served
at once. Twenty-eight courses, not counting the
sweetmeats ! Twenty-eight huge dishes — any one of
which would have sufficed to feed twenty hungry
men — of all shapes, of all smells, of all flavors ; enor-
mous pieces of roast mutton, chicken a la pomatum,
game a la wax, fish a la cosmetic, liver a la suet, tarts
dressed with tallow, vegetables swimming in grease,
eggs conserved in cold cream, salad minced, pounded,
kneaded and pressed into mosaic work ; sweetmeats,
one mouthful of which ought to atone for the commis-
sion of a bloody crime ; and, to wash down aU these
dainties, big glasses of cold water, into which, how-
ever, we squeezed lemons, brought for the purpose in
our pockets. Then came cups of very sweet tea,

30 FEZ.

like julep ; and finally a crowd of servants poured into
the room and inundated us, the table and the walls
with rose-water. Such was Sid Musa's breakfast.

When we arose from table an officer came to in-
form the ambassador that our host was then engaged
in saying his prayers, but that so soon as these were
concluded he would take great pleasure in conferring
with his guests. Immediately after this a trembling
old man made his appearance, supported between a
couple of Moors, who grasped the ambassador's two
hands and shook them violently, exclaiming, ex-
citedly :

" Welcome, welcome, welcome to the ambassaaor
of the King of Italy. Welcome among us ; a great
day for us !"

This individual was the Grand Sherif Bakali, one
of the most influential persons about the court, as
well as richest landowners in the Empire. He was
the Sultan's confidant, and the owner of a large harem,
and although ill for the past two years with dyspepsia
was said to possess the power of diverting his lord,
when the latter felt dull, with his witty sayings and
comical gestures, a faculty which one would certainly
not have suspected from his fierce countenance and
abrupt manner. After him appeared Sid Musa's two
sons, one of whose faces I have completely forgotten,
as he vanished again immediately after the first greet-
ings. The other was a very handsome young man,
of twenty- five, private secretary to the Sultan, with

FEZ. 31

a feminine face and large brown eyes of indescribable
sweetness. Lively, self-possessed and restless, he kept
continually stroking the ample folds of his orange-
colored caftan with both hands throughout the entire
interview. When Bakali and the ambassador had
withdrawn some of the officers remained, seated on
the ground, while the Sultan's secretary occupied a
chair in our honor. This prepossessing young gen-
tleman at once started a conversation, which was
carried on by means of Mohammed Ducali. Fixing
his eyes upon Ussi he inquired, in a low tone, who he
was.

" That," replied Ducali, " is Signor Ussi, a great
master of painting."

" Does he paint with a machine ?" asked the young
man, meaning a photographic camera.

" No," answered the interpreter, " he paints by
hand."

He seemed to murmur " What a pity " to himself,
and after thinking about it for a few minutes added
that he had inquired " because with the machine the
work is so much more exact."

The commander begged Ducali to inquire the
whereabouts of a certain fountain named Ghalii, after
a thief whom Edris, the founder of the city, had
caused to be hung on a neighboring tree. The
young secretary seemed greatly astonished at the
commander's familiarity with this historic incident,
and asked how he happened to have heard it.

32 FEZ.

" I read the account in Khaldoum's History," re-
plied the commander.

" In Khaldoum's History !" exclaimed the other.
"You have read Khaldoum's History? Then, of
course, you understand Arabic. And where did you
come across this history ?"

The commander explained that it was to be found
in all of our cities, being, in fact, a very well-known
book in Europe, and that it had been translated into
EngUsh, French and German.

" Keally !" exclaimed the ingenuous youth. " And
you have all read it, and are familiar with all these
things ? I would never have imagined such a thing,"
and he could not recover from his astonishment.

Little by little the conversation became more lively,
the officers joined in, and we succeeded in learning a
number of interesting facts. We were told, for in-
stance, that the English ambassador had presented
the Sultan with two telegraphic machines, and had
instructed a number of persons about the court in the
art of using them. They were, indeed, in operation
then, not, of course, in public, since the sight of those
mysterious wires would, no doubt, cause a riot, but
in the interior of the imperial palace, and it was
hardly necessary to say whether this wonderful dis-
covery had astonished everyone or no, although not
altogether to the extent one might have expected,
since from the descriptions they had previously heard
everyone, the Sultan included, had supposed it to be

FEZ. 33

something still more astounding. They believed, that
is, that the thought was not conveyed by means of
letters and words, but instantaneously, all at once, so
that it was only necessary to give a single touch and
whatever you wished to say was literally transmitted.
They admitted, however, that the invention was most
ingenious, and that it might be of great use, especially
in our countries, where there were so many people
and so much traffic that everything must be done in
a hurry, which meant, in other words, " What would
we do with a telegraphic system ? And to what con-
dition would our Government be reduced if we were
obliged to reply at once and in a few words to the
demands of foreign representatives, thus being de-
prived forever of our prime excuse the delay, and our
never-failing pretext, the miscarriage of letters,
thanks to which we are now enabled to let a matter
drag on for two months which might easily be settled
in a couple of days." Then they told us, or rather
gave us to understand, that the Sultan was a man of
mild disposition and kind heart ; that he lived simply,
loved but one woman, eat without a fork, like all his
subjects, seated on the ground, but with the dishes
placed upon a little gilded table about a foot high ;
that before he became Sultan he used to practice the
lah-el-harod with his soldiers, being one of the best
trained among them ; that he liked work, and fre-
quently did things himself that his servants should
have done for him, even to packing his own clothing
Vol. II.— 3

84 FEZ.

when going on a journey ; and finally that his people
loved him, but feared him too, knowing full well that
should a serious revolt break out he would be the very
first to leap on his horse and dash off, sword in hand,
to meet the rebels. But how agreeably did they
talk of all these things ! and with what charming
smiles and gestures ! It was a world of pities that
we could not understand that glowing figurative
language, and were not able to investigate at our
leisure that ingenuous ignorance. After two hours
had elapsed the ambassador reappeared, accompanied
by Sid Musa, the Grand Sherif and all the other
officials, and there was a tremendous interchange of
handshakings, smiles, bows, salutations and cere-
monies, as though we were all engaged in executing
a fancy dance ; and finally, after passing between two
long lines of curious servants, we took our leave.
As we passed out we caught a glimpse, at one of the
grated windows on the ground-floor, of about a dozen
tousled and be-diademed heads — black, white and
mulatto — which, the instant they saw us looking, dis-
appeared with a great noise of pattering slippers and
trailing skirts.

From the day we set out Sultan Mulai Hassan had
been, as may readily be supposed, the chief object of
our curiosity. There were grand rejoicings, there-
fore, when the ambassador announced one evening
that our formal reception was to take place on the
following day. In all my life I have never smoothed

/IDinisters ot tbe Sultan.

FEZ. 35

out the creases of my waistcoat nor adjusted the
springs of my opera hat with feelings of more pro-
found satisfaction than on that occasion. This in-
tense curiosity arose in part from what we knew of
the history of the dynasty. We wanted to look upon
the face of one member of that terrible Sherifian
family of the Filali to whom historians give the palm
for fanaticism, ferocity and cruelty over every other
dynasty that has held sway in Morocco. At the be-
ginning of the seventeenth century some inhabitants
of the province of Tafilalt, which borders on the
desert (hence the name of Filali), brought back with
them from Mecca a Sherif named Ali, a native of
Yembo and descendant of Mohammed through Has-
san, second son of Ali and Fathma. Soon after his
arrival the climate resumed its wonted regularity,
which for some time had been interrupted, and dates
flourished in great abundance j the credit of this being
given to Ali, he was elected king, with the title of
Mulai Sherif. His descendants gradually enlarged,
by force of arms, the dominions governed by their
ancestors, mastered Morocco and Fez, hunted down
the dynasty of the Sherifian Saids, and reign to this
day over all the territory lying between the Molouia,
the desert and the sea. Sidi Mohammed, son of
Mulai Sherif, governed with wise clemency, but after
him the throne of the Sherifs was bathed in blood.
El Reshid ruled by intimidation, took upon himself
the office of executioner, and with his own hands cut

36 FEZ.

off women's breasts in order to make them divulge
the hiding-place of their husband's treasures. Mulai
Ismael, that voluptuous prince who was the lover of
no less than eight thousand women and father of
twelve hundred children, founded the famous corps
of the Black Guard, and sent to demand the hand of
the daughter of the Duchess de la Valliere in mar-
riage of Louis XIV. During his reign as many as
ten thousand heads were suspended from the battle-
ments of Morocco and Fez. Mulai Ahmed el De-
hebi, miser and glutton, stole the jewels belonging to
his father's wives, besotted himself with wine, had
the teeth of the beauties of his harem drawn out, and
cut off the head of a slave who had pressed down the
tobacco in his pipe too hard. Mulai Abdallah, van-
quished by the Berbers, vented his rage upon the in-
habitants of Mequinez by cutting their throats, as-
sisted the executioner to behead the officers of his
brave, defeated army, and originated the horrible
pimishment of sewing a living man into the disem-
boweled body of a bull that they might rot together.
His son, Sidi Mohammed, seems to have been supe-
rior to others of his race, since he surrounded him-
self with renegade Christians, endeavored to establish
peace, and introduced closer relations between Mo-
rocco and Europe. Next came Mulai Yezid, violent,
cruel and fanatical, who, in lieu of paying his soldiers
wages, gave them permission to sack the Jewish
quarters of every city in the Empire. He was fol-

FEZ. 37

lowed by Mulai Heshiam, who, after reigning only a
few days, withdrew to pass the remainder of his life
in a sanctuary, and MiUai Soliman, who broke up
piracy, and made a great show of friendship with
Europe, but at the same time artfully cut off all in-
tercovirse between Morocco and the civilized world,
and had the heads of renegade Jews, who had dared
to raise a voice of lamentation over their forced ab-
juration, heaped at the foot of his throne. Then
came Abd-er-Rhaman, the conqueror of Isly, who
caused conspirators to be bricked alive into the walls
of Fez, and finally, Sidi Mohammed, the victor of
Tetuan, who, in order to instil a proper feeling of
affection and respect in the hearts of his people, had
the heads of his enemies borne through the towns and
diiars stuck on the bayonets of his soldiers. Nor do
these comprise the worst of the miseries which have
afflicted the Empire under the miserable Filali dy-
nasty. There have been wars with Spain, Portugal,
Holland, England, France and the Algerian Turks ;
bloody insurrections among the Berbers ; disastrous
expeditions into the Soudan j revolts of fanatical
tribes ; mutinies of the Black Guard 5 persecutions
of the Christians ; furious wars of succession waged
between father and son, uncle and nephew, brother
and brother. From time to time the Empire has
been torn in pieces, and once more reunited ; Sultans
have been discrowned five times, and five times rein-
stated on the throne ; there have been inhuman acts

38 FEZ.

of vengeance perpetrated upon one another by princes
of the same blood ; female jealousies, horrible crimes,
widespread misery and a rapid return to the barbar-
ism of former times, and through it all the triumph
of one dominant principle — the belief that since civiU-
zation can only be established upon the ruins of every
political and religious institution of the Prophet,
ignorance constitutes the Empire's surest safeguard
and barbarism is an essential element of its life. The
foregoing is a slight sketch of the historical halo with
which we, in fancy, surrounded the youthful Sultan,
before whom we were about to appear.

By eight o'clock in the morning the ambassador,
the vice-consul, Signor Morteo, the commander and
the captain, arrayed in gorgeous uniforms, were
already assembled in the court-yard, surrounded by
a throng of soldiers, the Kaid among them, attired in
gala dress, while the two artists, the doctor and I, all
four clad in dress-coats, high-hats and white neckties,
were actually afraid to venture out of our room,
dreading the effect that our singular attire, the like
of which had probably never before been seen in Fez,
would produce upon the bystanders. " You go first."
" No, after you." " Not at all, it is your place," and
so for a full quarter of an hour we hung about that
door, each one trying to push the other ahead, until,
at length, the doctor sagely observing, " Union is
strength," we made a simultaneous rush, keeping
close together, with our heads hanging and hair over

FEZ. 39

our eyes. Our appearance in the court-yard cer-
tainly did create the liveliest astonishment among the
soldiers, guards and palace servants, some of whom
were fain to retire behind the pillars in order to
laugh at their ease. But outside it was a very differ-
ent matter. Having mounted our animals we started
for the Butter Niche Gate, preceded by a troop of
scarlet foot-soldiers, followed by all the legation
soldiers, and flanked by officers, interpreters, masters
of ceremony and the cavalry of the Ben-Kasen-Bu-
hamei escort. It was a truly charming spectacle,
that mingling of stiff hats and white turbans, of diplo-
matic uniforms and red caftans, of dress swords and
barbarous sabres, of yellow kid gloves and black
hands, of gold-striped trousers and bare legs ; but
only fancy what figures we four cut, arrayed in even-
ing dress, mounted on mules, perched upon red sad-
dles elevated like thrones ; dripping with perspiration,
and completely covered with dust before we had well
started. The streets were full of people, who, as soon
as we appeared, stopped short and formed into two
lines. They regarded the ambassador's plumed hat,
the captain's gold braid, the commander's medals
without evincing any surprise, but when we four, who
were the last, came in sight, there was first a great
rolling of eyes and then an expression of countenance
that was anything but complimentary. Beside us
rode Mohammed Ducali, and I begged him to trans-
late any comments he might overhear for my benefit.

40 FEZ.

Presently a Moor standing in the centre of a little
group made some observation that I could not under-
stand, but to which the others all seemed to assent.
Ducali burst out laughing, and informed me that these
good people mistook us for executioners. Some of
them, possibly because black is greatly disliked among
the Moors, regarded us with an expression amounting
almost to aversion and disdain ; others shook their
heads in token of profound pity.

" Gentlemen," said the doctor at last, " it is our
own fault if we cannot compel the respect of these
people. We have the means at hand, let us make
use of them;" and so saying he took off his opera hat
and, just as we passed a group of Moors who were
laughing, shut it to with a snap. The astonishment and
dismay caused by that mysterious collapse are not to
be expressed. Three or four of them jumped back-
wards, casting terrified looks at the diabolical hat.
The two painters and I, encouraged by this bold ex-
ample, at once followed suit, and thus, by virtue of
our hats, we succeeded in gaining the city walls both
feared and respected.

Outside the Butter Niche Gate two thousand in-
fantry were drawn up in double line, the embassy
passing between. They consisted for the most part
of youths, who presented arms, each one according to
his own fancy, and then, as soon as we had gone by,
put their jackets over their heads to shield themselves
from the sun. We crossed the River of Pearls by a

FEZ. 41

small bridj^c, and found ourselves on the spot ap-
pointed for the reception, where we all dismounted.
It was a vast, open space, bounded on three sides by
high battlemented walls and massive towers, and on
the fourth by the River of Pearls. In the furthest
corner was the opening of a narrow street, flanked
by high, white walls, which led to the gardens and
residence of the Sultan, all completely hidden by the
buildings between. When we arrived the square
presented a most impressive sight. In the centre a
crowd of generals, masters of ceremony, magistrates,
nobles, officers, slaves, Arabs and negroes, all dressed
in white, were drawn up in two long lines, one about
thirty feet in advance of the other. Behind them, on
the side next the river, were all the Sultan's horses
in a row — large, beautiful animals, with velvet, gold-
embroidered housings, and each one held by an armed
groom, and at one end a little gilded coach, presented
by the Queen of England to the Sultan, and always
displayed on state occasions ; at the rear, on either
side, stretched two long files of imperial guards,
dressed entirely in white ; around the square, sta-
tioned at the foot of the walls and along the river-
bank, were three thousand infantry soldiers, barely dis-
tinguishable in the distance, looking like a thread of
vivid red ; and on the other side of the river were gath-
ered an enormous white-robed throng of spectators.
In the centre of the square were placed the cases con-
taining the gifts sent by the King of Italy, consisting of

42 FEZ.

his own portrait, mirrors, mosaic pictures, candelabra
and arm-chairs. We proceeded to take our places near
the two companies of court officials in such a manner
as to form a hollow square, open on the side from which
the Sultan was to appear. Behind us were the
presents, and behind them the embassy soldiers drawn
up in line. On one side stood Mohammed Ducali,
the commander of the escort, Soliman, Aflalo, and the
sailors in uniform. A grim-visaged master of cere-
monies, armed with a knotted stick, placed us in two
rows — the commander, the captain and the vice-con-
sul in front, the doctor, the two artists and I behind.
The ambassador stood some half-dozen steps in ad-
vance, with Signer Morteo, who was to act as inter-
preter. We seven gradually, and without intending
to do so, drew a few steps closer together, whereupon
the master of ceremonies made us move back again,
even indicating with his stick the precise spot upon
which each was to stand. This particularity annoyed
us, the more so as we fancied we could detect a lurk-
ing expression of amusement in his eyes. Just at
that moment, however, our attention was attracted by
a murmur of voices, and looking up we saw four or
five windows in the wall above our heads closed by
green blinds, behind which could be seen a confused
movement of heads, and instantly the whole thing
was explained. These windows belonged to a terrace
communicating by a large corridor with the Sultan's
harem, and the master of ceremonies had received

Sultan Coming out ot tt>e IKa^Dal?*

FEZ. 43

orders from the Sultan himself to make us stand on a
certain spot, his ladies having begged to be allowed to
see the Christians. What a pity it is that we could not
have had the benefit of their comments on our high-
hats and swallow-tail coats !

The sun was burning hot, and throughout the vast
inclosure the most profound silence reigned, while
every eye was turned in one direction. I think that
my companions' hearts as well as mine must have
been beating harder than usual. We waited for
nearly ten minutes; then a quick movement ran
through the troops. There was a sound of music,
the trumpets blared, the court officials bent low, the
guards, grooms and soldiers dropped on one knee,
and from every throat there issued a prolonged
and deafening shout, " God save our lord !" The
Sultan vfSiS advancing towards us on horseback and
surrounded by a throng of courtiers on foot, one of
whom held an enormous parasol over his head. When
he came to within a few feet of the ambassador he
halted, a part of his suite closed in the hollow square
and the others stood surrounding him. The master
of ceremonies, with the staff, now announced in a
loud voice, " The Italian ambassador," and the am-
bassador, accompanied by his interpreter, advanced
bare-headed towards the Sultan, who said, in Arabic,
" Welcome, welcome, welcome," and then inquired if
we had had a pleasant journey, and been satisfied
with the escort and the receptions accorded us by the

44 FEZ.

various Governors. Of all this, however, we heard
nothing, having been completely enthralled from the
very first moment. This Sultan, whom our imagina-
tions had pictured under the guise of a cruel and
savage despot, was the handsomest, most attractive
young man who ever won an odalisque's heart. He
was tall, active, with large, soft eyes, a fine aquiline
nose, dark, oval face and short, black beard. His
expression was at once noble and melancholy. A
white liatk enveloped him from head to foot, the
peaked hood being drawn over his turban, and his
bare feet were thrust into yellow slippers. The large
and entirely white horse he rode had green housings,
and the stirrups were of gold. All this whiteness and
the long, fiJl cloak lent him something of a sacerdotal
air, as well as of royal dignity and a simple kindly
majesty that corresponded admirably with the gentle
expression of his countenance. The parasol, carried
in sign of command, which a courtier held tilted a
little back over his head, was large and round, lined
with pale lilac, covered with light-blue silk embroi-
dered in gold and surmounted by a large gold ball,
and only added to the charm and dignity of his ap-
pearance. His graceful bearing, his expression,
half-melancholy, half-smiling 5 his subdued, even
voice, sounding like the murmur of a brook ; in short
his entire appearance and manner had a something
ingenuous and feminine, and yet, at the same time, a
solemnity that aroused instinctive admiration as well

FEZ. 46

as profound respect. He did not look to be more
than twenty-two or three years old.

" I am well pleased," he said, " that the King of
Italy has sent his ambassador to knit still closer the
cords of our ancient friendship. The House of Savoy
has never made war with Morocco. I love the
House of Savoy, and have followed with pleasure and
admiration the great events which have transpired
in Italy under its auspices. In the days of ancient
Rome Italy was the greatest country in the world j
then it was divided into seven states. My forefathers
were friends of all those seven states, and I, now that
the entire seven have been united in one, have con-
centrated upon that one the fi'iendship which my an-
cestors felt for all."

He pronounced these words slowly, with pauses be-
tween, as though the entire speech had been com-
mitted to memory, and it required some effort to re-
call it. Among other things the ambassador told him
that the King of Italy had sent him his portrait.

"It is a precious gift," replied the Sultan. "I
will have it hung in my sleeping-room, opposite a
mirror upon which my eyes rest as soon as I open
them, and thus every morning, barely awake, I will
see before me the image of the King of Italy, and
will think of him," and he presently added, " I am
much pleased, and I wish you to stay a long time in
Fez, and hope that you will preserve a pleasant mem-
ory of it when you return to your beautiful country."

46 FEZ.

As he talked he kept his eyes fixed almost all the
time on his horse's head; sometimes he looked as
though he wanted to smile, but would promptly frown
instead, as though endeavoring to recall a proper ex-
pression of imperial dignity to his features. It was
easy to see that he was curious as to what manner of
men were those seven standing not ten feet away
from his horse. Not caring, however, to look directly
at us, he turned his eyes very gradually our way,
and then all at once included us all in a rapid glance,
in which could be detected an indefinable look of
childish amusement, which contrasted charmingly
with the majesty of his person. The crowd of cour-
tiers, standing on either side of and behind him
seemed to have been turned to stone. Every eye
was fastened upon that one central figure ; not a
breath could be heard ; nothing was to be seen but
immovable faces and attitudes of profound veneration.
Two Moors kept the flies from his feet with trembling
hands; another brushed from time to time the hem of
his cloak, as though to purify it from contact with
the very air ; a third, with a gesture of religious awe,
stroked the horse's back ; while he who held the
parasol stood with eyes bent on the ground, immov-
able as a statue, almost as though he were dismayed
by the magnitude of his office. All the surroundings
bore witness to the enormous power, the immense
distance, that separate this man from everyone else,
to the absolute submission, fanatical devotion and

FEZ. 47

passionate savage love that seems to ask no more
than to give proof of itself with blood. He appeared
not so much a monarch as a god.

The ambassador produced his credentials, and then
presented the commander, the captain and the vice-
consul in turn, each of whom advanced and remained
some moments before the Sultan in an attitude of re-
spect. He observed the commander's decorations
with particular interest.

" The doctor," said the ambassador, indicating us
four, " and three scientists J^

My eyes encountered those of the god, and all the
phrases of this description which had already begun
to take form in my head became suddenly mixed up
together.

The Sultan asked, with some show of curiosity,
which one was the doctor. " He on the right," re-
plied the interpreter. He looked at him attentively,
then said, with a graceful gesture of his right hand,
" Peace be with you ! Peace be with you ! Peace
be with you !" and turned his horse. The band
struck up, the trumpets sounded, the courtiers bowed
their heads, the guards, soldiers and servants fell on
one knee, and once more from all those throats arose
the resounding cry, " God save our lord !"

No sooner had the Sultan disappeared than the
two ranks of lofty personages broke up, and Sid
Musa, his sons and officers, the Minister of War, the
Minister of Finance, the Grand Sherif Bakali, the

48 FEZ.

Grand-Master-of-Ceremonies and all the other great
men of the court advanced towards us, smiling and
gesticulating in sign of congratulation, and Sid Musa
having invited the ambassador to rest in one of the
Sultan's gardens, we all presently remounted, crossed
the square, filed down that mysterious little street,
and entered the august domains of his imperial high-
ness's residence. Narrow streets flanked by lofty
walls, little square court-yards, houses in ruins,
houses in process of construction, arched doorways,
corridors, little gardens, small mosques, a labyrinth
to make one's head swim, and in every direction busy
workmen, throngs of soldiers, armed sentinels, and
sometimes the face of a female slave peering out from
behind a grated window or through the crack of a
door. And that was all — not one imposing building
or anything else except the pleasure-grounds to sug-
gest the abode of a monarch. We entered a large,
neglected garden, filled with shady walks crossing
each other at right angles, and shut in by high walls
like a convent enclosure. After resting here for a lit-
tle while we returned home, the doctor, the two artists
and I causing great hilarity along the route by reason
of our dress-coats, and great terror with our opera
hats.

For the rest of that day no one could talk of any-
thing but the Sultan. We had all fallen in love with
him Ussi made a hundred attempts to sketch his
face, throwing away his pencil each time in despair.

FEZ. 49

One and all pronounced him to be the handsomest
and most charming of Mohammedan rulers, and in
order that this verdict might be a truly national affair
we determined to see what the two sailors and the
cook might have to say on the subject. The last,
from whom all the sights of Tangier and Fez had up
to this moment elicited only a smile of profound com-
miseration, showed himself liberal-minded as regarded
the Emperor.

"A Ve un bel omm,^^ said he, "a * Vnen a diie (he is
a handsome man, there are no two ways about it),
but he ought to travel, go somewhere, where he could
learn something." This " somewhere " naturally
meaning Turin. Luigi the caulker, although a Nea-
politan, was more concise. Asked what he had
noticed most especially about the Emperor, he looked
thoughtful, and presently replied, with a smile, " I
noticed that what this country seems to need most is a
king who wears stockings." But Ranni was the most
comical. "What did you think of the Sultan I"
asked the commander. "I thought," said he frankly,
and with the utmost seriousness, " that he seemed
afraid." "Afraid!" echoed the commander, "and of
whom ?" " Of us. Did you not notice how pale he
got, and how his breath nearly gave out f ' " You
are crazy. Do you suppose that, surrounded by his
guards and his army, he was afraid of us f "Well,
it seemed so to me," answered Ranni, imperturbably.
The commander regarded him steadily, and at last
Vol.. II.— 4

50 FEZ.

clasped both hands to his head in an attitude of com-
plete discouragement.

That evening two Moors visited the palace escorted
by Selam ; they had heard wonderful tales of our
opera hats, and had come to see for themselves. I
got mine and opened it before their eyes, and both
of them peered inside with the utmost curiosity, ex-
pecting doubtless to find some compUcated arrange-
ment of wheels and hinges. Seeing nothing at all,
they probably took this, as an additional proof of the
superstition current among Moors of the lower classes,
namely, that there is something diabolic about every-
thing belonging to a Christian. " But there is noth-
ing there !" they exclaimed in a breath. " That,"
replied I, by means of Selam, " is precisely where the
remarkable part of these supernatural hats lies ; they
do what they do without the aid of machinery !"
Selam laughed, suspecting the joke, and then I set
myself to work to explain the hidden mechanism, but
it seemed to me that they understood very little about
it. As they were leaving they asked if Christians
wore those springs on their heads "for fun." "And
you f ' I said to Selam, " what do you think of them ?"
" Why this," replied he, with an air of lofty disdain,
and laying one finger on the much-talked-of hat : " if
I had to live in your country a hundred years, per-
haps little by little I might come to adopt your style
of dress, the shoes, the necktie, even those ugly colors
you are so fond of ; but that thing! that horrible,

FEZ. 51

black object ! Ah, God is my witness, I had rather
die." At this point my Fez journal begins and covers
the period that elapsed between the Emperor's recep-
tion and our departure for Mequinez.

May 20th.
To-day the chief intendant of the palace privately
handed over the terrace keys to us, begging us at the
same time, most earnestly, to do nothing imprudent.
It appears that he had received orders not to decline
to give them to us, but to do so only on being asked,
because in Fez, as well as in all other Moorish cities,
the terraces belong to the women, and are considered
almost like adjuncts to the harems. Mounting to this
one, we found it to be very large and screened by a
wall more than the height of a man, in which were
some windows constructed like loop-holes. The palace,
very lofty itself, stands upon an eminence, so that we
commanded a view of thousands of other white ter-
races lying below us, the hills which surround the
city, the distant mountains, and directly beneath a
little garden, from whose midst an enormous palm-
tree rose by almost a third of its height above the
surrounding buildings. Peering through the win-
dows, we seemed to have been suddenly transported
to another world. All the terraces far and near were
filled with women, multitudes of them, who, judging
from their dress, appeared, for the most part, to be-
long to the higher classes ; ladies, in short, if that
word can be correctly applied to Moorish women.

52 FEZ.

Some were seated on the parapets ; others walked up
and down; others, with the agility of squirrels, jumped
from one terrace to another, hiding, reappearing,
sprinkling one another with water, and laughing like
maniacs, while more than one had adopted an attitude
which would certainly have been altered could she
have known that a man's eye was upon her. There
were old women, young girls, children of eight and
ten years, all clad in garments of strange device and
vivid colors. Most of them wore their hair hang-
ing down their backs, and red or green silk handker-
chiefs tied about their heads like bandages. Their
costume consisted of a sort of wide-sleeved caftan of
some brilliant hue, confined at the waist by a blue or
vermilion belt, a little velvet jacket open in front,
trousers, yellow slippers, and large silver rings fast-
ened just above the ankle. The servants and slaves
were dressed in simple tunics. Only one of these
" ladies " was close enough for us to distinguish her
features. This was a woman of about thirty, ar-
rayed in gala dress, who stood with her head resting
on her hand, gazing down into the garden below from
a terrace not more than a stone's thrown from our
own. We looked at her through the glass. Ye gods,
what painting ! Antimony, black under the eyes,
red on the cheeks, white on the neck, henne on the
nails, she looked like a painter's pallet ; but with it
all, and notwithstanding her thirty years, she was
pretty ; a full face, languid, almond-shaped eyes.

H 5ewisb J^outb ot fiHorocco*

FEZ. 53

shaded by long lashes, a little nose slightly turned up
at the end, a small mouth, " round," as the Moorish
poets would say, "as a ring," and the form of a sylph,
the soft curves set off by the clinging folds of her
attire. She seemed to be sad, possibly by reason of
the introduction but a few days before of a fourth
wife into the harem — a girl of fourteen, whose tri-
umph was already foreshadowed in the cold embraces
of her husband. Now and then she would regard
her hand, her arm, the locks of hair falling across her
breast, and sigh. Presently the sound of our voices
must have reached her, for looking up as though sus-
pecting that she was being watched, she sprang with
the ease of an acrobat upon the parapet, and, jump-
ing lightly on to the terrace below, disappeared. In
order to get a better view we sent for a chair, and
tossed up for the privilege of using it first. I won,
and placing it close to the wall, I mounted and stood
head and shoulders above the top. It was as though
a new star had appeared in the Fez firmament, if I
may be excused so presumptuous a comparison.
Those on the nearer terraces caught sight of me im-
mediately and ran away, then promptly reappeared
and passed the word on to their neighbors. In a few
minutes the news had spread over half the city,
curious heads appeared in all directions, and I felt as
though I were in a pillory ; but the beauty of the scene
kept me firm at my post. Hundreds of women and
children, dressed in the most brilliant colors, were

54 FEZ.

standing on the parapets, the little turrets, the out-
side stairs, with faces all turned towards me | from
those so close at hand that I could see their aston-
ished expression to those so far away that they looked
like mere white, green and vermilion specks. Some
of the terraces were so crowded as to present the
appearance of flower-beds, and through them all
there ran a stir and commotion, a coming and going
and a vast amount of gesticulation, as though they
were witnessing some celestial phenomenon. Not to
put the entire city in an uproar I presently set — that
is, got down from the chair — and for a few moments
no one took my place. Then Biseo placed himself
in the pillory, and in his turn was made the target for
a thousand eyes. All at once, however, the occupants
of one of the more distant terraces turned their backs
and flew over to the opposite end, then those on
another terrace did the same, and so on one after
another all down a long row of houses. At first we
could not imagine what had happened, but the vice-
consid presently hit upon the solution. " A great
event," said he; "the commander and the captain are
no doubt passing along the streets of Fez." And
sure enough, before long the red uniforms of the sol-
diers of the escort appeared upon a neighboring hill-
side, and by using the glass we could make out the
two officers on horseback in their midst. Another
excitement on the terraces presently announced the
passage of another party of Italians in the street be-

FEZ. 65

low, and ten minutes later we saw Ussi's Egyptian
cuffia gleaming from an opposite elevation, and be-
side it Morteo's English hat. After this final distrac-
tion the public attention became once more riveted
upon us, and we should have remained longer to
enjoy it to the full had not five or six little imps of
slaves, thirteen or fourteen years of age, begun to
stare and laugh at us so impudently that for the sake
of Christian decorum we were obliged to deprive the
fair sex of the metropolis of any further sight of our
wonderful presence.

Yesterday we dined with the Grand Vizier, Taib
Ben Jamani, surnamed Boasherin, which means, ac-
cording to some, winner of the game of ball, and ac-
cording to others, father of twenty sons. He is
Grand Vizier, though in name only, merely because
his father held that post under the last Sultan.

The messenger who brought the invitation was re-
ceived by the ambassador in our presence. " The
Grand Vizier, Taib Ben Jamani Boasherin," said he,
with great impressiveness, " begs the Italian ambas-
sador and his suite to dine to-day at his house." The
ambassador thanked him.

" The Grand Vizier, Taib Ben Jamani Boasherin,"
continued the man with the same solemnity, " also
begs the ambassador and his suite to bring knives
and forks, and their own servants to wait upon them
at table." Towards nightfall we set forth on horse-

66 FEZ.

back, with the usual armed following. I cannot tell
what part of the city the house was situated in. We
turned and twisted about, climbed up and down, and
threaded innumerable wretched little covered alley-
ways, dark and forbidding in the extreme, exercis-
ing the utmost care to keep our mules from slipping,
and being obliged to bend low, so as not to hit our
heads against the damp walls of those endless gal-
leries. Dismounting at length in a dark lobby, we
entered a vast square court-yard paved with mosaics
and surrounded by very lofty white pilasters, above
which was a line of small arches ornamented with
stucco arabesques, painted green ; a very strange
Moorish-Babylonish architecture that excited our won-
der and admiration. Seven streams of water fell
into seven marble basins in the middle of the court,
sounding like a hard shower of rain. All around
were half-closed doors and twin windows. In the
centre of each of the two shorter sides of the build-
ing was a lofty doorway, leading into two apartments.
On the threshold of one of these doorways stood the
Grand Vizier on foot, waiting to receive us ; behind
him were two old Moors, relatives, and on either side
a group of male and female slaves. We exchanged
the customary greetings, after which the Grand
Vizier, seating himself cross-legged upon a mattress
placed against the wall, proceeded to clasp a large
round pillow to his stomach with both hands, his
habitual and well-known attitude, and did not stir

FEZ. 67

again throughout the entire evening. He was a
vigorous looking man of forty or thereabouts, with
regular, though, owing to a certain deceitful expres-
sion about the eyes, not attractive features. He was
dressed in a white turban and caftan, and talked very
vivaciously, laughing loudly at every remark made
either by himself or any one else, throwing back his
head and keeping his mouth open for some time after
all sound had ceased. Several frames hung on the
wall, containing inscriptions from the Koran in gold
letters ; in the centre of the room stood a table, such
as one sees in village inns, and some rough chairs,
and in every direction white mattresses, on one of
which we deposited our hats.

Sidi Ben Jamani started a lively conversation with
the ambassador. He asked if he were married, and
why he was not, saying that had he been, nothing
would have pleased him more than to have had his
wife to dinner as well ; that the English ambassador
had brought his daughter with him, and she had en-
joyed herself very much ; that all the ambassadors
should make a point of marrying for the express pur-
pose of bringing their wives to see Fez and dine with
him, and similar discourses, interrupted by loud
laughter.

While the Grand Vizier was talking the two ar-
tists and I, seated on the threshold of the open door,
watched the slaves out of the corners of our eyes as,
encouraged no doubt by our air of benignant inter-

58 FEZ.

est, they drew gradually nearer and nearer, until, un-
seen by the Grand Vizier, they were almost touching
us. There they stood, staring open-eyed, and ap-
parently not averse to being looked at in turn. There
were eight good-looking young girls, ranging from
fifteen to twenty years of age, some of them mulat-
toes, others black, with big eyes, dilated nostrils and
prominent busts, dressed entirely in white, with wide
embroidered belts around their waists, bare arms and
feet, bracelets on their wrists, big silver circlets in
their ears and heavy rings on their ankles. To all
appearance they would have entertained no scruples
whatever about having their cheeks pinched by a
Christian hand. Ussi called Biseo's attention to the
beautiful foot of one of them, who, observing the
gesture, fell to examining her own feet with great
curiosity. All the others then did the same, compar-
ing theirs with hers. Ussi opened his opera hat and
they all jumped back, then smiled and drew nearer
again ; but presently the voice of the Grand Vizier,
giving orders to have the table laid, sent them all
flying. Our soldiers set the table, and one of the
servants of the establishment placed three huge wax
candles of different colors in the middle. The china
belonged to the Grand Vizier ; no two plates were
the same ; they were large and small, plain white,
decorated, fine and coarse, all mixed together. The
napkins were also provided by our host, and consisted
of pieces of cotton of various sizes and unhemmed,

FEZ. 69

evidently torn off in a grecat hurry at the last moment.
It was already night when we took our places. The
Grand Vizier remained on his mattress, hugging his
pillow close with both arms, and laughing and talking
with his two relatives. I will not describe the dinner,
it seems useless to re-awaken distressing memories ;
suffice it to say that there were thirty courses, and
that each of the thirty was a misfortune in itself,
without counting the minor offences of the sweet-
meats. When the fifteenth course was reached, in
despair of being able to continue the fight without
the aid of a little wine, the ambassador told Morteo
to find out whether the Grand Vizier would have
any objection to our sending out for a few bottles of
champagne. Morteo accordingly whispered some-
thing in Selam's ear, which Selam repeated in the ear
of the Grand Vizier. His Excellency replied in a
low voice and at some length, while we anxiously
scanned his face out of the corners of our eyes. His
expression, however, did not give us much hope.
Presently Selam arose with a baffled air and mur-
mured the answer to Morteo, who thereupon ad-
ministered the coup de grace in the following
words :

" The Grand Vizier says there would be no objec-
tion whatever, in fact it would give him the greatest
pleasure to consent .... but there is one draw-
back, there are not enough glasses, .... and per-
haps the table as well .... and in any case the

60 FEZ.

sight .... and the .... smell in short ....
and then the novelty of the thing . . . ."

" I understand/' said the ambassador, " we will
say no more about it," and thereupon all our faces
turned a sickly green.

Dinner over, the ambassador resumed his conversa-
tion with the Grand Vizier, and we slipped out of the
room. The night was dark and rainy. Our Kaid
and the Grand Vizier's secretary were seated on the
floor of the room on the other side of the court din-
ing by torch-light. At all the windows around the
four walls the dark profiles of women and children
were sharply defined against the lights within.
Through a half-closed door on the ground-floor we
could see, in a brilliantly -lighted apartment, the wives
and concubines of the Grand Vizier seated or reclin-
ing in a circle, in voluptuous attitudes, crowned like
so many queens, and slightly veiled by the clouds of
smoke which arose from perfumery-stands burning
at their feet. Slaves and servants went back and
forth from the dining-room to the kitchen, crossed
the court-yard, disappeared within curtained door-
ways, mounted and descended the stairs. There
may have been as many as fifty persons moving
about, and not a voice or footstep, or the rustle of a
garment, could be heard. It was a scene as silent
and mysterious as some phantom vision, and we stood
long in the shadow gazing at it, breathless and en-
tranced. As we were leaving we noticed a large.

fintctiox of a 2>wellin0.

FEZ. 61

leather, many-knotted thong leaning against one of
the pilasters in the court-yard. The interpreter
asked one of the house-servants what it was used for.
" To whip us with," was the reply.

Mounting our beasts we started for home, escorted
by a crowd of the Grand Vizier's servants, each one
carrying a large lantern. It was pitch dark and
raining in torrents, and no words can express the
effect of that long cavalcade — those lanterns, that
crowd of armed and hooded figures, the deafening
tramp, the tumult of hoarse, savage cries, amid that
labyrinth of narrow streets and covered alleyways
and the profound silence of the sleeping city. It was
like a funeral procession winding through the recesses
of some immense grotto ; a night attack by soldiers
threading the underground passageways of a fortress
in order to give a coup de main. All at once the
procession came to a halt. There was a sepulchral
silence, broken by an angry voice announcing in
Arabic, " The street is closed !" followed by the
sound of blows falling in quick succession. The
soldiers of the escort were trying to beat down with
the butt-ends of their muskets one of the many doors
which prevent one at night from circulating freely
about the streets of Fez. This was continued for
some time, to an accompaniment of thunder and
lightning. The rain pattered down ; servants and
soldiers hurried back and forth, carrying lanterns,
their long shadows projected against the walls. The

62 FEZ.

Ka'id, standing erect in his stirrups, threatened the
invisible inhabitants of the surrounding houses, and
we gazed with intense delight upon the fine Rem-
brandt-like scene. At last a loud crash announced
that the door had fallen in, and we proceeded on our
way. Not far from the palace, beneath a tomb-Uke
arch, six infantry soldiers presented arms, each with
one hand and holding a lighted taper in the other,
and this was the closing scene of the grand spectacular
show, entitled " A Dinner at the Grand Vizier's."
Not quite the closing scene, though; that was reserved
for the palace court-yard, immediately upon reach-
ing which we fell upon the Nantes sardines and the
Bordeaux, and Ussi, lifting his glass high overhead,
exclaimed, solemnly :

" To Sidi Ben Jamani Boasherin, Grand Vizier of
Morocco, our gracious host ! I, Stefano Ussi, pledge
this cup in token of Christian forgiveness."

The Sultan has granted the ambassador a private
audience. The reception-room, large, white and bare
as a prison, is devoid of ornaments other than a great
number of pendulum clocks of all sizes and shapes,
some of them placed on the floor along the walls, the
rest crowded together on a centre-table. Clocks, be
it observed, serve the Moors principally as objects of
adornment and entertainment. The Sultan was seated
cross-legged on a platform about three feet high in a
small alcove. He had on, as at the state reception,
a snow-white cape with the hood drawn over his head;

FEZ. 63

his feet were bare — the yellow slippers standing in
one corner — and across his breast was stretched a
green cord, from which no doubt a dagger hung. In
this fashion do the Emperors of Morocco receive
foreign ambassadors. Their throne, to quote Sultan
Abd-er-Rhaman, is the horse, and their pavilion the
sky. The ambassador, having previously made his
v/ishes known to Sid Musa, found an unpretending-
looking chair placed so as to face the imperial plat-
form, upon which, at a sign from the Sultan, he took
his seat. Signor Morteo, who acted as interpreter,
remained standing. His majesty, Mulai el Hassan,
conversed for some time without taking his arms from
beneath his cloak, without a movement of the head
or the slightest variation of his sweet, deep, monot-
onous voice. He spoke of the needs of his Empire,
of commerce, of trade, of treaties, going into the
most minute details systematically and with great
simplicity of language. He asked numerous ques-
tions, listening to the answers with marked attention,
and concluded by saying, in a tone of slight melan-
choly, " It is all true, but we are obliged to advance
very slowly." Strange and admirable words upon
the Ups of an Emperor of Morocco. Seeing that
even during the intervals of silence he gave no sign
of bringing the interview to an end, the ambassador
at last deemed it proper to arise. " Stay a little
longer," said the Sultan ingenuously. " I like to
talk to you." When the ambassador finally depai ted,

64 FEZ.

and bowed for the last time on the threshold of the
door, the Sultan inclined his head slightly and re-
mained as immovable as an idol left alone in his de-
serted temple.

A party of Jewish women came to the palace to
present a petition of some sort to the ambassador,
and we could with difficulty withdraw our hands from
the kisses showered upon them. They were the
wives, daughters and other female relatives of two
wealthy merchants ; handsome women with flashing
black eyes, white skin, crimson lips and tiny hands.
The two mothers — quite old women — had not a white
hair on their heads, and their eyes still sparkled with
youthful fire. The party was dressed in a magnifi-
cent and picturesque costume, consisting of a red
cloth jacket trimmed with close rows of wide gold
braid, a vest covered with gold embroidery, a short,
straight skirt of green cloth, also striped with rich
braid, and a sash of red or blue silk fastened about
the waist. They looked like Asiatic princesses, and
all this magnificence contrasted oddly enough with
their servile and obsequious manners. It was not
until some moments had elapsed that we noticed that
they were barefoot, and carried yellow slippers under
their arms. As they all spoke Spanish I addressed
one of the older women in that tongue, asking her
why she did not wear shoes and stockings. " Is it
possible," said she, with an air of great surprise,

FEZ. 65

" that you do not know that IsraeHtes can only wear
shoes in the Mella, and are obUged to go barefoot
whenever they enter the Moorish city I" The am-
bassador said something reassuring, and they put on
their sHpperSj but what they stated is an actual fact ;
at least whUe they are not absolutely required to go
barefoot all the time, they have to take their slippers
off when they go through certain streets, pass certain
mosques, approach certain huhhaSj and so on until it
amounts to the same thing. Nor is this the only or
the least humiliating annoyance to which they are
subjected. They are forbidden to act as witnesses,
and are obliged to prostrate themselves to the earth
when speaking in court ; they are not permitted to
own houses or land outside the limits of their own
quarter ; to ride on horseback through the city ; to
lift their hands against a Mussulman even in self-de-
fence, unless they have been assaulted in their own
houses ; they must dress in dark colors ; carry their
dead to the cemetery on a run ; ask the Sultan's per-
mission to marry ; be within the Mella by sundown ;
pay the Moorish guard that stands watch at the en-
trance ; and present the Sultan with rich gifts on each
of the four great feasts of Islam, as well as on the
occasion of every birth and marriage in the imperial
family. Their condition was even worse before the
reign of Sidtan Abd-er-Rhaman, who put a stop at
least to the reckless shedding of their blood. But even
should he so desire the Sultan could accomplish but
Vol. II.— 5

66 FEZ.

little towards the amelioration of their condition, since
any attempt in that direction only results in exposing
these unfortunate people to a persecution still worse
than the horrible slavery which they now endure, so
violent and fanatical is the hatred felt for them by the
Moors. Take, for example, the case of the Emperor
Suleiman, who decreed that they should be allowed
to wear their slippers, with the result that such num-
bers were killed in broad daylight in the streets of
Fez that he was forced to recall the edict to preserve
them from wholesale massacre. And, notwithstand-
ing all these things, they remain in the country,
partly because, in their capacity of intermediaries be-
tween the commerce of Europe and that of Africa
they become rich, and partly because the Govern-
ment, recognizing how important their presence is to
the welfare of the country, opposes an almost insuper-
able obstacle to their quitting it by prohibiting the
departure of the women. Thus they serve, tremble,
crawl in the dust, and willingly exchange the dignity
of manhood and liberty of a citizen for those piles of
gold-pieces secreted in the walls of their squalid
houses. The Fez Mella covers about eight miles, is
divided into sections by the synagogues, and ruled by
Rabbis, who enjoy great authority.

Our unfortunate guests showed us some heavy
chased silver bracelets, jewelled rings and gold ear-
rings, which they had hidden away in their breasts.
We asked why they did not wear them. " Nos es-

FEZ. 67

pantanios dc los Moros " — wc are afraid of the Moors
— they answered in low tones, and glancing nervously
about as they spoke ; they even mistrusted the lega-
tion soldiers. Among them were several little girls,
dressed with the same richness as the women. One
of these stood beside her mother in an attitude of
greater timidity than the others. The ambassador
inquired her age. " Twelve years/' was the reply.
" She will marry before very long," said the ambas-
sador.

" Oh, no !" exclaimed the mother, " she is too old
now to get a husband."

We all thought she was joking. " No, I am quite
serious," said the woman, evidently wondering a little
at our incredulity. " Do you see that one over there I"
indicating a still smaller child; " she will be ten years
old in six months, but she has been married for over
a year." The child hung her head, and we none of
us believed the statement. " What can I say," said
the mother, " to convince you ? If you will not take
my word for it, do us the honor to visit our house on
Saturday, when we can receive you in a fitting man-
ner, and you will see both the husband and the wit-
nesses to the marriage."

" And how old is the husband ?" I asked. " Full
ten years, Senor."

Seeing that we still looked incredulous, the other
women all confirmed the statement, assuring us that
it is very rare for a girl to marry after she is twelve

68 FEZ.

years old, most of them doing so before they are ten,
many at eight, and some even as young as seven,
the husbands being about the same age. Naturally
their tender years compel them to go on living with
their parents, who continue to treat them like chil-
dren— feed, dress, scold and whip them without pay-
ing the slightest regard to their married estate. But
they pass all their time in each other's company, and
the wife has to obey her husband. It seemed to us
that we were listening to the customs of some other
planet, and we stood open-mouthed, divided between
a strong inclination to laugh and a feeling of com-
passionate indignation. " But," said the ambassador,
hesitatingly, " do they really live together I" " Why,
naturally," said the mother, " seeing that they are
husband and wife." " But do you not see," said the
ambassador, with a gesture of irritation, "how wrong
that is ? That it is a custom contrary to all the laws
of nature ? That it endangers the health of both
soul and body ? That instead of educating childhood
morally and physically, you in this manner profane,
poison, suffocate it f

" Oh, no, no, Senor Ambassador !" cried the
mother, with the most charming vivacity, " do not
believe a word of it. Nothing like that ever happens.
They are just children," and here she came nearer
and dropped her voice. " They accept everything
quite naturally, play and laugh together, and when
they are tired just put their heads down like that and

street Scene*

FEZ. 69

fall asleep like little angels. No harm at all, Senor
Ambassador."

The ambassador still endeavored to make her see
that there was harm in these customs, but the good
woman only kept on repeating, " No harm at all, no
harm at all, Httle by little, little by little," and held
firm to her own opinion.

While this was going on the small nine-year-old
wife was wafting kisses to Signer Patxot's hunting-
dog, who was tied in a corner of the court-yard.
Poor creatures, it was pitiful to see them, when the
time came to leave, put their slippers under their
arms again and their jewelry in their breasts, and
with all their beauty and rich clothing sally forth
barefoot into the stony, filthy streets, looking about
them with an expression of humble supplication, as
though hoping to ward off the insults and rude
jostling of the passers-by.

A breakfast in the house of the Minister of War !
He received us on our arrival in a narrow court-yard,
inclosed by four lofty walls, and as dark as a well.
On one side was a low doorway, scarcely more than
three feet high. On the other a large archway gave
admittance to a bare room, furnished with a mattress
spread on the floor, and some sheets of paper, sus-
pended by a string on one of the walls, the daily cor-
respondence, I understand, of His Excellency. His
name is Sid-Abd-AUa-ben Hamed. He is Sid Musd's
elder brother, and about sixty years of age ; black.

70 FEZ.

small, thin, unsteady on his legs, trembling, and re-
duced, so to speak, in the girth. He is withal not
unattractive, both in manner and expression. He
talks very little, often closing his eyes with a courte-
ous smile, and bending his head, half-hidden in its
huge turban. After exchanging a few words we were
invited to the dining-room. The ambassador first,
and then each one of us in turn, stooping almost at
right angles, passed through the small doorway and
found ourselves in another court -yard ; spacious, sur-
rounded by graceful arches and faced with beautiful
mosaics in great variety. The whole palace was a
present from the Emperor to Sid-Abd-Alla, as he in-
formed us himself, at the same time bowing his head
and closing his eyes in an attitude of religious venera-
tion. In one corner of the court-yard stood a group
of officials, in white cloaks and turbans ; on the op-
posite side a crowd of servants, in whose midst tow-
ered the lofty form of a very handsome young man,
attired in a zouave costume, of turquoise blue, with a
pistol thrust in the belt. At all the doors and win-
dows women's and children's heads could be seen, of
all shades and colors, coming and going, while infants'
cries came from every direction. We seated our-
selves around a small table in a little room, cluttered
up with two enormous bedsteads. The minister took
his place close by and a little behind the ambassador,
remaining there throughout the repast, and vigor-
ously rubbing a bare black foot, which rested on one

FEZ. 71

knee, at such an angle that the august ministerial toe-
nails were poised on the table a few inches from the
commander's plate. The legation soldiers waited on
table, and the turquoise-blue giant stood a few feet
away, one hand resting on his pistol. Sid- Abd- Alia
was very friendly with the ambassador.

" I like you," he directed Signer Morteo to say to
him, without any preambles.

The ambassador replied that he entertained a simi-
lar sentiment towards his host.

" As soon as I saw you," continued the minister,
" you won my heart."

The ambassador returned the compliment.

"The heart," resumed Sid- Abd- Alia, "will take
no refusal ; when it commands us to love anyone we
must obey, without asking why."

Whereupon the ambassador extended his hand, and
the minister pressed it to his heart.

Eighteen dishes were set before us. I will not
speak of them in detail, but I feel sure that when I
come to be judged those eighteen will weigh in my
favor. Moreover, the water had musk in it, the table-
cloth was many-hued and the chairs decidedly rickety ;
but these trifling drawbacks, far from putting us in a
bad humor, seemed to have the opposite effect, and
we were seldom so gay, so lively and witty as on that
particular morning. If Sid- Abd- Alia had but heard
us ! But that worthy seemed to have eyes and ears
for no one but the ambassador. Morteo gave us a

72 FEZ.

fright once, when, leaning over, he suggested in a
low tone that the blue giant, coming from Tunis,
might very likely understand some Italian; but on
watching him closely at the next joke, and seeing
that he betrayed no sign of having understood, but
remained immovable as a statue, we took heart again,
and went on without paying any further attention to
him. How many apt comparisons were improvised
for those sauces and ragouts, each one seeming to us
more humorous than the last, but which, unfortu-
nately, will not bear repetition ! At the conclusion
of the feast we all went into the court-yard, where
the minister presented one of the highest officers of
the army to the ambassador. This was the comman-
der-in-chief of the artillery, a little, dried-up, old
man, bowed together like a letter C, with a big,
hooked nose and a pair of diaboUcal eyes. His face
looked like that of a bird of prey ; he carried, rather
than wore, a huge yellow turban, spherical in shape,
and was dressed something like a zouave, in light
blue, with a white mantle hanging from his shoulders.
At his side dangled a long sword, and a silver-han-
dled dagger was thrust in his belt. The ambassador
inquired what grade in the military hierarchy of
Europe his rank in the Moroccoan army corresponded
to. This question seemed to puzzle him, but after
thinking a moment he replied, hesitatingly, " Gen-
eral." Then he seemed to consider again, and finally
said, " No, Colonel," but apparently in some confusion.

FEZ. 73

He said he was a native of Algeria, and the suspicion
instantly flashed through our minds that he was a
renegade. Who can tell through what strange accident
he found himself a colonel in the Moroccoan army !
Meanwhile the other officers were breakfasting in a
room on the ground-floor, opening from the court-
yard, all of them seated on the pavement in a circle,
with the dishes in the middle. As I stood watching
them I understood perfectly how it is that the Moors
are able to dispense with knives and forks. It is im-
possible to convey any just idea of the grace, dex-
terity and precision with which they separate
chickens, roast mutton, game, fish, everything, em-
ploying only a few rapid movements of the hands,
with no confusion, each one deftly and accurately de-
taching his own portion as though his nails were
sharpened like razors. They plunge their fingers
into the broth, roll up balls of kuskussu, eat salad by
the handful, and never so much as a drop or a crumb
falls outside their plates, and at the end their caftans
are as immaculate as when they sat down. From
time to time a servant carried around a basin and
towel. After going through a slight ablution each
one dipped his hand into the fresh dish before him.
No one spoke or raised his eyes, or gave any sign of
being conscious of our presence. Could these possi-
bly have been officers of rank ? Staff-officers belong-
ing to the higher grades of the army ? Aides-de-camp ?
Chiefs of Departments in the War Office ? Who

74 FEZ.

can be certain of anything in Morocco, particularly
when it is a question related in any way to the
army, which of all mysteries is the most mysterious.
They say, for instance, that in the event of a re-
ligious war, when the Djehad law would be pro-
claimed which calls out every man capable of bearing
arms, the Emperor could raise a force of two hun-
dred thousand soldiers ; but if they do not know even
approximately the extent of the population of the
Empire, upon what calculations do they base their
estimates ? And the standing army, who really
know^s what it numbers ? And how is anyone to find
out anything not only about its strength, but its or-
ganization, if apart from the heads no one knows
anything to tell, and they, either refuse to speak, or
prevaricate, or else cannot make themselves under-
stood ?

Sid- Abd- Alia, most courteous of hosts, asked each
one to write his name in his portfolio, and then bade
us farewell, pressing each hand to his heart in turn.
As we reached the door we were overtaken by the
turquoise-blue giant. We halted, and he regarded
us a moment with a cunning smile, then said, in ex-
cellent Italian, barring the Moorish accent, " I hope
you are quite well, Signori."

Our thoughts instantly flew to all the jokes we had
made at table, and we were petrified.

" You dog !" cried Ussi, but the dog had already
disappeared.

H /iDoorisb Beggar,

FEZ. 75

Every time we take a walk it is like setting out on
a small military expedition. The Kaid must first be
notified, an escort collected, an interpreter fi)und, the
animals sent for, and before all is in readiness an hour
has elapsed. On this account we spend much of the
day indoors. The spectacle, however, afforded by
the interior of the palace itself largely compensates
us for this forced imprisonment. There is a con-
tinuous procession of red-clad soldiers, black servants,
messengers from court, merchants from the city, sick
Moors seeking the doctor's aid. Rabbis come to pay
their respects to the ambassador, Jewish women
carrying bunches of flowers, couriers bringing letters
from Tangier and porters bearing the mona. There
are workmen in the court-yard engaged upon the
mosaics for Viscount Venosta, masons on the terrace
and crowds of cooks in the kitchen. The merchants
display their stuffs in the garden, and Signor Vincent
his uniforms. The doctor occupies a hammock swung
between two trees, and the artists are at work outside
the door of their room. Servants and soldiers run up
and down, and call one another through the corridors.
The fountains play with a sound like falling rain, and
hundreds of birds sing in the branches of the orange
and lemon-trees of the garden. Our days are divided
between games of ball and Khaldoum's history. In
the evening we play chess and sing, the latter diver-
sion being under the direction of the commander,
leading tenor of Fez. My nights would be passed

76 FEZ.

rather more agreeably did not Mohammed Dvicali's
black servants, who occupy a room close by, flit back
and forth in a continuous procession like so many
phantoms. The doctor and I share a room and the
services of a poor devil of an Arab servant, whose
eccentricities make us almost die Avith laughter. He
informs us that he belongs to a family which, if not
exactly wealthy, is at all events not in want, and
that his object in joining the caravan at Tangier in
the capacity of a servant was to make a pleasure trip.
No sooner had he reached Fez, the goal of his de-
sires, than for some offence, what I do not know, but
undoubtedly something very trifling, he was whipped.
Since then he has devoted himself to our service with
the most furious zeal. He never understands any-
thing, not even gestures, and always looks frightened.
When we ask him for the chess-board he brings a
spittoon. Yesterday the doctor sent him for a piece
of bread, and in order to be very quick about it he
returned with an end of crust he had found in the
garden. We have the greatest difficulty in reassur-
ing him, as he persists in regarding us with terror,
and trying to conciliate us by all sorts of unnecessary
services that we do not want, such as changing the
water in our pitchers three times before we are out
of bed. In order to do something very acceptable he
takes his stand every morning in the middle of the
room, with a cup of coffee in his hand, and the first
one of us that stirs he throws himself upon, thrusting

FEZ. 77

it under his nose as though he were administering an
antidote. Another interesting personage is the wash-
woman, who, with covered face, green skirts and red
trousers, comes to collect our clothes, condemned,
alas, to the cuffs and blows of the Moorish process of
washing. It is vmnecessary to say that they are re-
turned unironed. In all Fez there does not exist
such a thing as a flat-iron, and we wear our garments
just as they issue from the fists of the laundrymen.

" Perhaps," they said to us, " there are some flat-
irons in the MeUa."

Everything can be had if one can only lay hands
on it. For instance, there is a carriage, though to be
sure that belongs to the Emperor. It is even said
that there is a piano in Fez. It was seen ten years
ago being brought into the city, but no one seems to
know what became of it. It is good fun to send out
for something to be bought in the shops. " A can-
dle ?" The answer comes back that they have none,
but will make one right away. " A yard of ribbon *?"
It will be done by to-morrow evening. " Cigars ?"
The tobacco is there, and they wiU be ready in an
hour. The vice-consul has been searching for days
for a certain old book in Arabic. When questioned,
the Moors all look at each other and say, " A book ?
Let me see ; who has any books in Fez ? If I am
not mistaken so and so used to have some, but he is
dead, and I do not know who his heirs are." " And
Arabic newspapers of other countries, are any to be

78 FEZ.

had ?" " Oh, yes, there is one printed in Algeria
that comes to Fez regularly, but then it is addressed
to the Emperor." In short, it is difficult to realize
that we are less than two hundred miles distant from
Gibraltar, where Lucia di Lammermoor is probably
being given this evening ; or that in eight days I
could be walking in front of the Loggia dei Lanzi in
Florence. I have a sense of being very far away in-
deed, and it is not the number of miles, but the differ-
ences in people and things that put the greatest dis-
tance between us and home. With what delight do
we tear off the wrapper of the Ga^zetta Ufficiale, and
break the seals of our letters — those poor little let-
ters that have escaped the hands of the Carlists,
passed through the midst of the Sierra Morena brig-
ands, climbed the rocky sides of the Red Mountain,
swum, clasped in a Bedouin's hand, the waters of the
Ktis, the Sebu, the Mikkes, the Blue Fountain river,
and brought us their loving messages in the midst of
all these revilings and maledictions.

We pass away hours at a time watching the two
artists at work. Ussi has made a charming sketch
of the grand reception, in which he has succeeded
admirably in catching the Sultan's likeness. Biseo,
eminent as a painter of oriental architecture, is copy-
ing the fa9ade of the summer-house in the garden.
One should hear the comments of the soldiers as they
look at that picture. They sidle up on tiptoe be-
hind the artist, making spy-glasses of their fists, so

FEZ. 79

as to see better, and then most of them burst out
laughing, as though they had discovered some absurd
blunder. The blunder consists in the second arch
being smaller in the drawing than the first, and the
third smaller than the second. Absolutely ignorant
of the first principles of perspective, they think this
is a mistake, and say that the walls are crooked, the
house leans over, the doors are out of position, and
various other pleasantries of the same sort, and go
off calling the artist an ass. Ussi is more highly
thought of since they learned that he has been in
Cairo and painted the starting out of the great cara-
van for Mecca, an order given him by the Viceroy,
who paid fifteen thousand crowns for the work ; but
they say that the Viceroy has evidently taken leave
of his senses to pay fifteen thousand crowns for a
thing which must have cost not more than a hun-
dred francs at most, in colors. One merchant asked
Morteo if Ussi could paint furniture as well. But
Biseo's experiences when he goes every morning to
New Fez to paint one of the Mosques are the most
amusing. He is accompanied, of course, by four or
five soldiers, armed with clubs. Before the easel
has been set up about three hundred people have
gathered around him, and the soldiers have to shout
and push like maniacs in order to clear barely enough
space in front for him to see the Mosque. Very
soon, however, neither shouts nor pushes being of
any further avail, clubs have to come into play. At

80 FEZ.

every stroke of the brush a blow, but the crowd sub-
mits to being knocked about, and seems only to grow
more unruly. Now and then a saint accosts the artist
in a threatening tone and the soldiers are obliged to
drag him back. There are, however, sometimes a few
Moors of the progressive sort, who approach in a
friendly manner, bow, look and go away again, mak-
ing him signs of approval and encouragement. Most
of these liberal-minded ones, hoAvever, are much more
impressed by the easel and camp-stool than by the
picture itself. One day a wild-looking fellow, after
shaking his fist at Biseo, turned and harangued the
crowd at some length, with the voice and gestures of
a demon. An interpreter explained that he was try-
ing to incite the people against Biseo by telling them
that that dog had been sent thither by the king of his
country to make drawings of all the most beautiful
Mosques in Fez, so that when the Christian armies
came to attack the city they would be able to recog-
nize and bombard them first of all. Yesterday I was
present when a ragged old Moor, with a face like an
amiable devil, all smiles, accosted us with an air of
having something very important to say. After
hesitating a moment, as though selecting his words,
he exclaimed, excitedly, " France ! Londres ! Mad-
rid ! Homa !" As any one might suppose, we were
completely taken aback, and asked him forthwith if
he could speak French, or Italian, or Spanish. He
made a gesture of assent. " Then talk," said we.

FEZ. 81

He scratched his head, sighed, shuffled about on his
feet and then exclaimed again, " France 1 Londres !
Roma ! Madrid /" at the same time pointing to the
horizon. He meant that he had been to those places,
and possibly also that he had once been able to make
himself understood in foreign languages, but he had
evidently forgotten it all. We asked him a number
of questions, eliciting nothing, however, beyond those
four names. At last he went off, still repeating
" Madrid, Bonia, France, Londres,^^ and as long as he
was in sight continuing to make us friendly signs, ex-
pressive of the sorrow he felt at being unable to talk
to us.

" You can find every kind among these people,"
said Biseo gloomily, " even a few who are eccentric
enough to look upon us in a kindly fashion, but not
a dog among them who is willing to pose." And
sure enough, thus far all efforts of the two artists in
that direction have been entirely unsuccessful, even
our faithful Selam refusing flatly.

" Are you afraid of the devil ?" Ussi asked him
one day.

" No," he repUed, in his serious way, "I am afraid
of God."

We have climbed to the top of Mount Zalag, the
commander, Ussi, and I, under the guidance of Cap-
tain di Boccard, that charming young fellow being as
remarkable for his physical agility as for his active
Vol. II.— 6

82 FEZ.

mind and keen intelligence. We were accompanied
by an officer of the escort, three infantrymen, three
cavalrymen, and three servants. After proceeding
for an hour and a half in a northeasterly direction,
we reached the foot of the mountain and halted for
luncheon, at the conclusion of which the captain
drove a stake into the ground, on the end of which
he stuck an apple with a scudo laid on top of it, and
invited the men to fire at it in turn with his revolver.
The prize being eagerly desired, everyone was
anxious to try, but unfortunately, it being the first
attempt of any of them to handle that particular
kind of weapon, no one hit the mark, and the money
had to be given to the officer to divide up among
them equally. We got our amusement in watching
the remarkable positions they adopted when about to
fire. Some threw their heads back, others leaned
forward, others stood on guard as though it were a
fencing-match. Accustomed as they all were to make
themselves as terrific and threatening as possible
when firing off their guns, they could not take in
the idea of the composed, steady attitude the captain
tried to teach them. One of the soldiers presently
asked if we were willing to give something to a
peasant woman from whom he had obtained a jug of
milk for our use. We told him certainly, provided
she came for it herself. So in a few minutes we saw
her coming towards us, a woman of about thirty,
dark, wasted, covered with rags, unattractive enough

Hrab IDillaQC*

:■. ^ _ >^ '

FEZ. 83

to have aroused repugnance in a Satyr. She ap-
proached very slowly, keeping her face carefully hid-
den with one hand, until she was about five feet
away, when, wheeling about, she held out the other
behind her for the money. How angry it made the
commander. " You need have no fears," he called
out, " I am not going to fall in love with you^ I am
not losing my head, I am still able to control myself.
Heavens above, Avhat terrific modesty !" We placed
a coin in her hand, and picking up the milk-jug she
went off towards her hut, on reaching which we saw
her take a stone and smash the desecrated vessel into
atoms. We now began the ascent, on foot and ac-
companied by a part of the escort. The mountain
rises to a height of between three and four thousand
feet above the level of the sea, and is rocky, pre-
cipitous, and without any sort of path. Before long
the captain had disappeared among the rocks, but for
the commander, Ussi, and me it was equal to one of
the twelve tasks of Hercules. Each one of us was
provided with an Arab on either side to hold us up and
show us where to plant our feet, notwithstanding which
we stimibled constantly on the loose stones, and kept
recalling with terror the first two strophes of the
Natale by Alexandre Manzoni. In some places we
were obliged to clamber like so many cats, grasping
hold of tufts of grass and shrubs, crawling over rocks,
scraping our shins, bruising our legs, and hanging on
to our guides' arms like shipwrecked mariners cling-

84 FEZ.

ing to a plank. Now and then a goat or two would
appear above us, apparently suspended overhead, so
sheer was the ascent, while a mere touch would send
the stones rolling down to the very foot of the moun-
tain. By the help of Providence, after an hour's toil,
we reached the top, pretty well exhausted, but with
no bones broken. What an exquisite view repaid us
for our pains ! Far down below us, the city lay like
a little white figure eight, surrounded by black walls,
cemeteries, gardens, saints' houses, and towers and all
framed in a green basin ; to the left the Sebu, a long,
shining ribbon ; to the right the great plain of Fez,
striped with the silver River of Pearls and River of
the Blue Fountain ; to the south the blue summits of
the great Atlas chain ; to the north the peaks of the
mountains of Rif ; to the east the vast undulating plain
where the fortress of Taza stands commanding the pass
between the Sebu basin and the basin of the Muluya ;
beneath us great waving fields of wheat and barley,
edged by foot-paths and traversed by long rows of
gigantic aloes. Such majesty of outline, luxuriance
of vegetation, and clearness of atmosphere ; such
silence and stillness, that the charm of it seemed to
steal into our very souls. Who would ever have
dreamed that in this terrestrial paradise an effete,
enchained people slumbered over a heap of ruins !
The mountain, which seen from the city appears
to be conical in shape, has instead an elongated sum-
mit formed of solid rock. The captain climbed to

FEZ. 85

the very highest point, while we, with some regard
for our lives, contented ourselves with scattering
about among the rocks a little lower down, and were
out of sight of one another. I had proceeded but a
few steps into a small gorge when I suddenly found
myself face to face with an Arab. I stopped, and he
stopped apparently much astonished to see me alone.
He was a fierce-looking man, about fifty years old,
armed with a heavy stick. For a moment I thought
he might be going to knock me down and steal my
purse, instead of which, to my amazement, he greeted
me smilingly, and pointing with one hand to my chin,
stroked his beard with the other, saying something
over two or three times that I could not understand,
but which seemed to be some question he was anxious
to have answered. Prompted by curiosity I called
the officer of the escort, who knew a little Spanish,
and begged him to tell me what it was the man wished
to know. Who could ever have guessed it ! In or-
der to pay me a compliment (and I do not know what
other he could have paid) he had asked, ex abrupto,
why I did not let my beard grow, as in that case it
would, no doubt, have been handsomer than his own !
The soldiers of the escort were following us at a dis-
tance of about twenty feet, and hearing us call out to
one another they for the first time caught the sound
of our names distinctly, and thought them very funny;
they laughed and repeated them aloud, with a strong
Moorish accent, twisting them about in the queerest

86 FEZ.

way — "Isi!" "Amigi!" and so on, until the officer
suddenly turned on them with a " Shut !" (silence),
and they all stopped. -The sun was high and the
rock scorching hot ; even the captain, accustomed
though he was to the heat of Tunis, felt the need of
shade. So, giving a final look at the summits of
the Atlas, we came down at breakneck speed, and
vaulting into our crimson saddles started back to-
wards Fez, where a charming surprise was in store
for us. The El Ghisa Gate, through which we
were to re-enter the city, was closed. "Well, why
not enter by another ?" said the commander. " They
are all shut," said the officer of the escort ; and see-
ing us raise our eyebrows, he proceeded to explain
the mystery. It seems that on all feast days (this
was a Friday) the gates of all the cities are closed
from noon to one o'clock, that being the hour of
prayer, because, according to Mussulman belief, it
will be on a feast day, and at that very hour, that the
Christians are to take possession, by a coup de main,
of the country. So there was nothing for it but to
wait till the gates should be opened again. Hardly
had we entered at last than we were made the re-
cipients of a flowery compliment. An old woman
shook her fist at each one of us in turn, muttering cer-
tain words at the same time. " What is it she says I"
I asked the officer. " Oh, nothing," said he, "just a
bit of foolishness." But I insisted on knowing what
it was, and on being assured that I would not take it

Bab cl abisa, df e3»

FEZ. 87

in bad part whatever it might be, " Well," said he,
smiling, " it is just a saying they have in this coun-
try— Jews to the pot-hook and Christians to the —
a — spit."

The doctor has performed an operation for cata-
ract, coram popiilo, in the palace garden. A crowd
of relatives, friends, soldiers and servants surrounded
the patient, while others stood in a long line all the
way to the entrance from the street, outside of which
another crowd waited to hear the result. The man
was an old Moor, who had been totally blind for over
three years. Just as he was about to take his place
he hesitated as though he were afraid, then, with a
resolute gesture, seated himself; nor from that moment
did he give any further sign of weakening. During
the operation all the bystanders stood as though they
were petrified ; the children clung to their mother's
skirts, who in their turn held on to one another by
the arm in terrified postures, as though they were
witnessing an execution, while not so much as a breath
could be heard. We, meanwhile, were quite as anxious
on our side on account of the " diplomatic " import-
ance of the affair. All at once the patient fell on his
knees with an exclamation of joy. He had received
the first faint impression of light. All the people in
the garden hailed the doctor with a shout, which was
echoed by those standing without. The soldiers made
everyone but the patient leave the palace at once, and

FEZ.

in the course of a few hours news of the wonderful
event had flown all over Fez. Fortunate doctor !
he began that very evening to reap the rewards of
his skill, being sent for to visit the most beautiful
women in the harem of the Grand Sherif Bakali.
They received him unveiled, in all the pomp of their
splendid attire, and talked languidly about their
various ailments, regarding him full in the face with
flashing eyes.

Every now and then Signor Patxot receives a visit
from some Spanish renegade. They say that there are
as many as three hundred of these miserable creatures
in the Empire. Most of them are Spaniards con-
victed of some ordinary crime, who have made their
escape from the galleys on the coast. The rest are
either French deserters from Algeria, or adventurers
of a low class, drifted hither from all parts of Europe.
In former times they frequently attained to high posi-
tions about the court, and in the army formed special
military corps, and were very well paid, but now
their condition is quite different. On their arrival
they at once abjure Christianity and embrace Islam-
ism, without, however, undergoing circumcision or
any other rite, simply pronouncing the words of a
certain formula. After that no one cares whether or
no they observe the duties of their new religion.
Most of them, in fact, never so much as put foot in-
side a mosque, and do not even know the prayers.

FEZ. 89

In order to attach them to the country the Snltan re-
quires them to marry at once, and to anyone who
may so desire he will give one of his negresses ; the
others may marry free Moorish or Arab women. In
all cases the Sultan defrays the expenses of the wed-
ding. All renegades must enroll themselves in the
army, but they can at the same time practice a trade,
if they have one. Most of them are in the artillery,
and a few are members of the Sultan's band, the
leader of which is a Spaniard. The common soldiers
receive five cents a day and the officers twenty-five
or thirty, but if anyone happens to be clever in cer-
tain directions he can make as much as two francs.
Just now, for instance, there is a good deal of talk
about a certain renegade German, who is gifted with
an especial talent, and by means of it has won an
enviable position for himself. He fled from Algeria
in seventy -three — no one knows just why — went to
Tafilalt, on the borders of the desert, and after stay-
ing there two years and learning Arabic he came to
Fez, enrolled, and in the course of a few days, with
the aid of such tools as he happened to have with
him, manufactured a revolver. The event made
quite a stir ; the weapon was passed from one to an-
other, until it came into the hands of the Minister of
War, who spoke to the Emperor about it ; the latter
forthwith sent for the man, talked to him encourag-
ingly, gave him ten francs and raised his pay to two
francs a day. But cases of good fortune such as

90 FEZ.

this are rare, and most of these people live in such a
state of wretchedness that even though they are
known to have committed grave crimes, they inspire
one with a feeling more of pity than of horror. Yes-
terday two renegades of some years' standing, both
married and with children born in Fez, presented
themselves at the palace. One was about thirty and
the other fifty years of age, and both were Spaniards
who had fled from Ceuta. The younger one did not
speak ; the other said he had been condemned to
penal servitude for having killed a man who was in
the act of beating his son to death. He was pale, and
spoke excitedly, rubbing his handkerchief all the
time between his trembling hands.

" If they would promise to keep me in the galley
only ten years longer I would go back," he said. " I
am fifty now and would get out at sixty, and still have
a few years left to live in my own country. But it
is the idea of dying in the uniform of a galley-slave
that scares me. I would return to the galley at any-
cost if I could only be sure of dying in Spain a free
man. The life we lead here is not life at all ; it is
just like being in the middle of a desert, and it is so
discouraging. Everyone looks down on us. Even
our own families do not really belong to us. Our
sons, instead of loving us, are incited by everyone
around them to hate us ; and then we can never for-
get the religion Ave were brought up in, the church
where our mothers took us to say our prayers, theii*

FEZ. 91

teachings, the happiest periods of our lives, ....

and these memories Oh, yes, I know we are

renegades, galley-slaves, but after all we are men
too, and these memories tear our hearts," and as he
spoke his eyes filled with tears.

The rain which has been coming down steadily and
without intermission for the past three days has re-
duced Fez to such a condition that were I to describe
it fully no one would believe me. It is no longer a
city, but an enormous sewer. The streets are con-
duits, the crossings, lakes ; the squares, morasses ;
foot-passengers sink half-way up their shins in mire,
and the houses are splashed with it above the tops
of the doors ; men, horses, mules, all seem to be cased
in mud, and the dogs are so thickly coated that not a
hair is visible. Very few people are to be seen
abroad, most of them riding, and none of them
carrying umbrellas, notwithstanding which no one
dreams of burring to get out of the rain. Except in
the neighborhood of the bazaars the city is a gloomy
waste, most depressing : water everywhere, running,
flowing, gurgling, gathering up all manner of foul
things, and not a sound, not a human voice to break
the monotony of that dreary downpour. It looks like
a place abandoned by all its inhabitants at the mo-
ment of an inundation. After walking about for
some time I came back to the palace at last, plunged
in melancholy, and spent several hours in my room,

92 FEZ.

with my face pressed against the window-grating
and my eyes fixed upon the dripping trees in the
garden, thinking of a certain poor courier who at
that very moment, perhaps, was swimming the swollen
Sebu, at the risk of his life, holding between his teeth
a leather purse, containing a letter from my mother.

Some people declare and others deny that a capital
punishment has taken place within the last day or
two in front of one of the gates of Fez, but as no
heads have been seen hanging from the walls I prefer
to beheve that the news is false. A description I read
of an execution that took place some years ago at
Tangier has quite cured me of any barbarous wish I
may once have entertained to be present on such an
occasion. The EngUshman, Drummond Hay, on
issuing one day from one of the gates of Tangier,
saw a band of soldiers dragging two prisoners, bound
around the arms and waist, towards the Jewish
slaughter-house. One was a mountaineer of the Rif,
a gardener, formerly in the employ of a European
resident of Tangier 5 the other was a good-looking
young man, tall, and with a pleasing, open counte-
nance. The Englishman asked the soldier in com-
mand of the party what crime these two unfortunates
had been guilty of.

" The Sultan," was the reply, " may God prolong
his days, has commanded that their heads be cut off
for carrying on a contraband trade with the treacher-
ous Spaniards off the coast of Rif."

FEZ. 93

" The punishment is very severe, considering the
nature of the offence," observed the Englishman;
" and why, if it is intended to serve as an example
and warning to others, are the inhabitants of Tangier
prevented from being present f (All the city gates
were closed, and Drummond Hay had only gotten
out by paying the gate-keeper a fee.)

" Do not argue with the Nazarene," said the man ;
" I have my orders, and must obey them."

The beheading was to take place in the Jewish
shambles. A low, depraved-looking Moor, dressed
like a butcher, stood awaiting the prisoners, holding
in one hand a small knife, about six inches long. This
was the executioner. A stranger in the city, he had
offered his services, as the Mohammedan butchers of
Tangier, who are usually charged with this sort of
business, had all taken refuge in one of the mosques.
An altercation now arose between the soldiers and
this man as to the amount the latter was to receive for
beheading the two poor wretches, who were obliged
to stand by and listen to a dispute as to the price of
their blood. The executioner insisted that he had
been promised twenty francs for one head and that
he must have four more for the other. The officer
finally yielding an unwilling assent, the butcher pro-
ceeded to lay hold of the first victim, who was already
half-dead from terror. Throwing him on the ground,
he knelt on his chest and applied the knife to his
neck. At this point Drummond Hay turned away

94 FEZ.

his head, but a violent struggle seemed to follow. The
executioner cried out, " Give me another knife, mine
will not cut !" the condemned man lying meanwhile
stretched on the ground, his throat half-cut, his breast
heaving and all his limbs contracted. Another knife
was produced, and the head finally severed from the
body.

The soldiers called out feebly " Grod preserve the
life of our lord and master !" but some of them even
appeared to be stupefied with horror. It was now
the turn of the attractive, good-looking young man to
come forward, but another dispute arose, the officer
going back on his promise and declaring that he was
only going to pay twenty francs for the two heads.
The executioner at last gave in, and the prisoner
asked if his hands might be untied. This being done,
he took off his cloak and handed it to the soldier
Avho had cut the cords, saying, " Accept this, we will
meet again in a better world ;" then tossing his turban
to another, who had regarded him pityingly, he walked
with a firm step to the spot where the bleeding corpse
of his former companion lay extended. After pro-
nouncing the words "There is but one God, Mohammed
is his Prophet," in a clear, steady voice, he turned to
the executioner, and taking off his belt handed it to
him, saying, " Take this, but for the love of God cut
my head off quicker than you did that of my brother,"
and then laid himself down on the blood-stained earth.
The executioner placed one knee on his breast.

FEZ. 95

" Stop !" cried the Englishman. "A reprieve !" A
horseman was seen approaching at full speed. The
executioner held his knife poised in the air.

" It is only the Governor's son coming to see the
execution/' said one of the soldiers. " Wait until he
gets here.'^ And so it was, and a few minutes later
the two heads were swinging from the hand of one
of the men.

The gates were now opened, and a rabble of boys
poured out and began stoning the executioner, chas-
ing him three miles out from the city, where he
finally fell, covered with wounds. The following day
it was learned that he had been shot by a relative of
one of the deceased men, and buried on the spot
where he fell. Apparently the Tangier authorities
thought it wiser to take no notice of this incident, as
the murderer returned to the city and was not
molested in any way. After being placed on exhibi-
tion for three days the heads were forwarded to the
Sultan, so that His Imperial Majesty might see with
what sohcitude his orders had been carried out. The
soldiers to whom they were entrusted met a courier
on the road, bringing a pardon. He had been de-
layed by an unexpected flood in one of the rivers !

I frequently encounter merchants in Fez who have
been to Italy. From forty to fifty of them go yearly,
and some of these have Moorish agents in our princi-
pal cities. They usually visit the north of Italy,

96 FEZ.

where they purchase raw silk, damask, coral, velvet,
thread, porcelain, pearls, Venetian glass, Genoese
playing-cardfe, and muslin from Leghorn. Properly
speaking, they bring from their own country little be-
side wool and wax, as commerce in Morocco is much
restricted — stuffs, arms, hides and pottery being
about the only products that attract the attention of
a European. The stuffs are manufactured principally
in Fez and Morocco, and consist of women's JiatJcs,
men's turbans, scarfs, foulards, fine silk gauzes, mixed
with gold and silver, usually in stripes and cross-bars,
either white or of delicate colors beautifully har-
monized, charming to look at, but on closer examina-
tion proving to be full of gum and of very poor
quality for wear. The small caps, on the contrary,
that take their name from the city of Fez are not
only made of fine cloth, but are extremely durable ;
while the rugs manufactured at Rabat, Casa Blanca,
Morocco, Shadma, and Soueir are admirable, both as
regards endurance and the beautiful richness of their
coloring. At Tetuan are made most of those em-
bossed guns, inlaid with precious stones, so light and
beautiful in shape, while from the cities of Mequinez
and Fez, and the province of Sus, come the lighter
weapons, the daggers being especially noticeable for
their graceful workmanship. Hides, the principal
source of revenue to the country, are excellently
cured, and the red leather of Fez, yellow of Morocco,
and green of Tafilalt still maintain their ancient repu-

FEZ. 97

tation. They pride themselves, particularly at Fez,
upon their pottery, but one seldom finds the noble
outlines of the ancient forms reproduced ; its princi-
pal attraction lies in the brilliant coloring, and a cer-
tain barbarous originality of design, more striking
than pleasing. There are, too, in Fez a great many
jewellers and goldsmiths, who make a number of
simple articles not unpleasing in themselves, but very
limited both in variety and number, as the Malekite
law denounces the pomp of costly ornaments as be-
ing contrary to the spirit of Mohammedan austerity.
More worthy of note than the jcAvelry is the furni-
ture made in Tetuan : sets of shelves and racks for
clothing, little many-cornered tables for holding the
tea-service, arched, arabesqued, painted a thousand
different colors ; copper trays engraved with intricate
designs, and ornamented with green, red, and blue
enamelling ; and, above all, those mosaics for floors
and walls made with such exquisite taste by the
cleverest of workmen, who cut, one by one, with
strokes of a small hatchet, innumerable stars and
squares with unerring exactitude. These people are
undoubtedly endowed with marvellous aptitude, and
their industries would receive a wonderful stimulus —
and their agriculture, once so flourishing, as well —
if trade could only put a little life into them ; but
trade is shackled by prohibitions, restrictions, monop-
olies, excessive tariffs, incessant modifications and
violations of the treaties, and although the various
Vol. II.— 7

98 FEZ.

European states have undoubtedly accomplished
something in the past few years, it does not amount
to much when compared with what might so easily
be done, thanks to the marvellous natural riches
and the geographical position of the country, under
a civilized Government. The largest European trade
is with England; next come France and Spain, which,
in exchange for wool, hides, fruit, leeches, gum, wax,
and many of the products of Central Africa, furnish
cereals, metals, sugar, tea, coffee, raw silk, woollen
stuffs, and cotton. The commerce which is carried
on between Fez, Taza, and Jidier (and this is not
unimportant, though falling far short of what it should
be when the close vicinity of Morocco and Algeria is
considered) includes, beside carpets, stuffs, belts,
braids, and all the different articles of Arab and
Moorish wearing apparel, gold and silver bracelets
and rings for the ankles, Fez jugs, mosaics, per-
fumes, incense, antimony for the eyes, henne for the
nails, and all the other tints that contribute to the get-
up of the African fair sex. More important still, as
well as more systematic and of longer standing, is the
commerce with the interior of Africa. Every year a
great caravan sets out laden Avith stuffs from Fez —
English cloth, Venetian glass, Italian coral, powder,
arms, tobacco, sugar, German mirrors, Dutch feath-
ers, Tyrolese boxes, English and French hardware,
and salt taken from the oases of Sahara. The cara-
van is like a moving fair, and all this merchandise is

<S>IC) 3Bt5ftra.

FEZ. 09

exchanged for black slaves, gold-dust, ostrich-plumes,
white Senegal gum, gold jewelry from Nigrizia des-
tined for the East and Europe, black stuffs which
Moorish women wear on their heads, hesoaro to ward
off poison and sickness from the Arabs, and a num-
ber of drugs long since abandoned in Europe, which,
however, preserve their ancient prestige in Africa.
And thus it is its position — forming, as it does, the
principal gateway to Nigrizia — that gives Morocco
its chief importance in the eyes of Europe. Here
the trade of Europe and of Central Africa can meet,
and before long civilization and barbarism will con-
tend for possession of the soil.

The ambassador holds frequent interviews with
Sid Musa, his object being to obtain certain conces-
sions from the Government of the Sherifs tending to
facilitate trade conditions between Italy and Morocco ;
further I am not at liberty to speak. These inter-
views last over two hours, but the conversation bears
for very little of that time on the topics supposed to
be under discussion, as the minister, following a rule
which seems to be traditional in the policy of the
Moroccoan Government, will not touch upon the matter
in hand until, having exhausted all manner of ex-
traneous subjects, he is actually forced to. " First
let us talk a little while about something amusing,"
he will say in a tone almost of supplication. The
weather, health, the Fez water, the properties of cer-

100 FEZ.

tain fabrics, a historical anecdote, various proverbs,
the population of some of the European countries,
anything, in fact, in preference to business. "What
do you think of Fez I" he asked one day, and on re-
ceiving the reply that it was beautiful, " It has still
another merit," said he ; " cleanliness." Another day
he asked the ambassador to tell him the population of
Morocco. But sooner or later he has to come to busi-
ness, and then follow long strings of words, hesita-
tions, reservations, broken phrases, a thousand doubts
put forward regarding matters to which in his heart
he has already agreed ; refusals under the guise of
consent, and a marvellous capacity for slipping out of
the ambassador's grasp just as the knot is about to be
tied; and then the never-failing expedient, ^' wait
till to-morrow," and when the morrow comes a re-
capitulation of all that has been said on the preced-
ing day, fresh doubts, restrictions, mistakes discov-
ered, regrets at having been misimderstood and at
not having made himself more clear, and much per-
spiring on the part of the unfortunate interpreter
charged with the task of making everything plain.
Then all must wait until the return of the couriers
sent to obtain certain information at Tangier and
Tafilalt, information of the most trifling importance
in itself, but valuable as serving as an excuse for
postponing a decision for ten days longer. And
finally, three great obstacles to everything : the fa-
naticism of the people, the obstinacy of the ulemas,

FEZ. 101

and the necessity for proceeding with the utmost
caution, without noise, without attracting attention,
so slowly, in fact, as to seem to be standing still, or,
if possible, going backwards. Subjected to such
ordeals as these. Job himself might well lose patience
sometimes ; but the conferences always end in warm
hand-pressures, sweet smiles, expressions of a sym-
pathy and affection that are well-nigh irresistible, and
which seem destined to end only with life itself. The
most difficult matter of all is that of the fat Moor
Shellal, and they say that the success of his whole life
hangs in the balance ; consequently he haunts the
palace at all hours, enveloped in his ample haikj un-
easy, thoughtful, sometimes actually with tears in his
eyes, and keeping his supplicating gaze constantly
fixed upon the ambassador, as though he were a con-
demned man hoping for pardon. Mohammed Ducali,
on the other hand, has the wind in his sails, and is
all gayety in consequence ; smokes, perfumes himself,
changes his caftan every day, and bestows compli-
ments, soft words and smiles in all directions. Ah,
were he not in our party as an Italian citizen how
quickly would those smiles be exchanged for tears
of blood !

We are putting all that was told us at Tangier
concerning the effect of the Fez air to the proof in
these days, and whether it really is the air, or the
water, or the villanous oil, or the infamous butter,

102 FEZ.

or all of these things combined, it is an actual fact
that we none of us feel well. We are languid, have
lost our appetites, suffer from extreme prostration,
our heads are heavy, and, what is still more serious,
we have contracted a habit of hurrying across the
court without looking around us, as though we were
being followed. Strange delusion ! And added to
all this we are bored, utterly weary ; a sort of gloom
has settled down upon us that in the course of a few
days has changed the face of everything. Everyone
is now impatient to be off. We have reached that
inevitable point in all journeys when all at once curi-
osity is satisfied and everything becomes colorless.
Memories of home crowd close one upon the other, and
all those longings that are so easily kept in check at
first now rise up tumultuously, while in whatever direc-
tion we may turn, the eye sees nothing but the road
leading home. We are tired of mosques, of turbans,
of black faces j tired of having a thousand eyes always
following us ; tired of this great white masquerade,
w;hich we have been watching for two months. What
Avould we not give to catch sight of an European
lady passing by, even at a distance ! To hear the
ringing of a bell ! To see on some wall the play-bill
of a puppet-show ! Oh, cherished memories !

I have discovered that one of the soldiers of the
palace-guard has lost his right ear, and they tell me
that it was cut off legally, and in the presence of wit-

FEZ. 103

nesses, by another soldier whom he had deprived of
the corresponding car some time before. Such is the
law of retaliation as it is interpreted in Morocco.
Not only may any of the relatives of a murdered
man kill the murderer on the same day of the week,
at the same hour, on the spot where the crime was
committed, and with the same weapon, but whoever
loses one of his members by violence can inflict a
similar injury upon him who did the deed. In this
connection I was told by an attache of the French
legation at Mogador of a very curious incident that
occurred at that place some years ago, one of the
persons concerned being personally known to him.
An English merchant of Mogador was returning to
the city on the evening of a market day, and ar-
rived at the gate just when a crowd of peasants were
pouring through, leading their asses and camels.
Although he shouted ^^Bal ok ! Bal ok r (Make room !
Make room !) until he was tired, an old Moorish
woman was thrown down by his horse, striking her
face against a stone. As ill-luck would have it she
knocked out the last two remaining teeth in her
underjaw. For a moment she seemed dazed, but
recovered herself quickly and rose to her feet in a
furious rage. Bursting into a torrent of abuse and
curses, she followed the Englishman to his house, and
then went off in search of the Kaid to demand, in
accordance with the law of retaliation, that the Naza-
rene's two corresponding teeth should be knocked out.

104 FEZ.

The Kaid endeavored to pacify her and advised for-
giveness, but finding that he could do nothing he
finally dismissed her, promising to see that justice
was done, hoping that little by little she would calm
down and abandon her project. But at the end of
three days back she came, angrier than ever, to de-
mand her rights, and insisting that a formal sentence
should be pronounced then and there upon the Chris-
tian. " Remember," said she, " you have promised."
" Eh !" cried the Kaid, " you must take me for a
Christian too, if you suppose that I am the slave of my
word !" For three months did that old woman con-
tinue to present herself daily at the entrance to the
Citadel, crying out, threatening, and making such a
noise generally that the Kaid at last, to get rid of her,
was forced to give in. Sending for the merchant, he
set the matter before him, the old woman's grievance,
her rights under the law, and the duty required of
him by his promise, ending by begging him to put a
stop to the affair by consenting to have two of his
teeth drawn, any two, it made no difference which so
long as, in accordance with the law, they were in-
cisors. But the merchant declined, not only as re-
garded his incisors, but his eye-teeth and his molars
as well, and there was nothing for the Kaid to do but
send the old woman off and tell the guards not to
allow her to set foot in the Kasbah again. " Very
well," said she ; " since there are only degenerate
Mussulmans left here, and Mussulman women, the

FEZ. 105

mothers of the Sherifs, can no longer get justice done
tlicni against dogs of infidels, I shall go to the Sul-
tan, and we will soon see if the Prince of the Faith-
ful abjures the law of the Prophet as well." True to
her word she set forth on her journey, entirely alone,
with an amulet in her breast, a staff in her hand, and
a knapsack strapped across her shoulders, and suc-
ceeded in walking the entire hundred leagues which
divide Mogador from the sacred city of the Empire.
On reaching Fez she demanded an intervicAv with the
Sultan, and proceeded to state her case, demanding,
in accordance with her rights as laid down in the
Koran, an application of the law of retaliation. The
Sultan exhorted her to show forgiveness, but she per-
sisted. He then explained to her the grave difficul-
ties that stood in the way of satisfying her demands,
how the English consul would never give his consent,
and the Government would consequently find itself
involved in a serious lawsuit ; how impossible it was
for so trifling a cause to jeopardize the peace of the
entire Empire and disturb the good understanding
which then existed between the Government of the
Sherifs and powerful England. The old Moor re-
mained inexorable. She was now offered, on condition
that she would abandon the matter, a sum of money
large enough to support her in comfort for the rest of
her life. She refused. " What do I want with your
money ?" said she. " I am old and accustomed to
poverty. What I want is two of that Christian's

106 FEZ.

teeth. I want tliem, I have a right to them, and I
demand them in the name of the Koran ; and the
Sultan, Prince of the Faithful, head of Islamism,
father of his people, cannot refuse to render justice
to a Mussulman woman." This obstinacy placed the
Sultan in a very awkward position. The law was
precise, and her rights under it incontestable, while
the popular excitement had been wrought to such a
pitch by her inflammatory speeches that it would be
dangerous to refuse her demands. The Sultan — it
was Abd-er-Rhaman — wrote to the English consul,
asking him as a favor to try to persuade his feUow-
countryman to allow two of his teeth to be knocked out,
to which the merchant replied that he would never
agree. Then the Sultan wrote again, promising to
concede any mercantile privilege that he might wish
in return for his consent ; and this time, having been
approached through his pocket, the merchant gave in.
The old woman left Fez blessing the name of the
pious Abd-er-Rhaman and returned to Mogador,
where, in the presence of herself and a large gather-
ing of witnesses, two of the Nazarene's teeth were
knocked out. When she saw them fall to the ground
she gave a howl of triumph and seized them with
savage joy. The merchant, however, thanks to the
special privileges he enjoyed, made a large fortune in
less than two years and returned to England, tooth-
less but happy.

The more closely I study the Moors the more I

FEZ. 107

incline to believe that the judgment passed upon them
by other travellers is not so far wrong as I at first
supposed. They agree in pronouncing them to be
vipers and wolves, false, cowardly ; servile in their
dealings with the strong, and overbearing with the
weak ; devoured by avarice, egotistical, and a prey
to the basest passions known to the human heart.
How, indeed, can it be otherwise ? The nature of
the Government and the state of society forbid the
exercise of a single manly ambition. They trade and
beg, but know nothing of real work of the kind that
brings fatigue to the body and peace to the mind.
They are debarred from every sort of intellectual en-
joyment, paying no attention even to the education
of their own children. They have absolutely no
noble aims, and give themselves up, in consequence,
with their whole souls and throughout their entire
lives to money-making, spending what time remains
in a drowsy, debilitating idleness, and a gross indul-
gence of the passions most brutalizing in its effects.
This effeminate life naturally tends to render them
vain, fond of gossip, small, and malicious. They
slander one another in the most spiteful manner ; lie
habitually and with incredible effrontery ; affect to
have the most religious and charitable dispositions in
the world, being all the time perfectly ready to sac-
rifice a friend for a scudo ; despise knowledge and
believe in all manner of vulgar superstitions ; bathe
daily and permit filth to accumulate in heaps in the

108 FEZ.

cornersof their houses ; and, added to all this, have
the arrogance of the Evil one, veiled, when occasion
demands, beneath a humble, dignified manner that
gives an impression of great kindliness. It was this
manner that misled me at first, but I am now quite
sure that the very least among them is fully per-
suaded in the bottom of his heart that he is worth all
of us put together. The nomad Arabs preserve at least
the austere simplicity of their ancient customs, and
the wild Berbers are endowed with a warlike spirit,
courage, and the love of freedom ; but the others only
add to barbarism corruption and pride, and form the
most influential portion of the population of the Em-
pire. From their ranks are recruited the merchants,
ulemas, tholbas, Kaids, and Pashas. They own the
richest palaces, the largest harems, the most beauti-
ful women, the hidden treasures, and can be recog-
nized at once by their obesity, light complexions,
crafty eyes, large turbans, dignified bearing, lassi-
tude, perfumery, and conceit.

Shellal, the Moor, invited us to drink tea at his
house. We entered by a narrow passage-way into a
dark but very beautiful little court-yard ; beautiful,
indeed, but as dirty as the dirtiest house in the Al-
cazar Ghetto. Except the mosaics on the walls and
pavement everything was black, encrusted, greasy,
disgusting. There were two dark little rooms on the
ground-floor, a gallery ran around the second-story,

H ^fountain ot jf es.

FEZ. 109

and above the walls rose the parapet of the terrace.
The fat Moor placed us in front of his bedroom door,
gave us tea and sweetmeats, burned aloes, sprinkled
us with rose-water and presented to us two charming
little sons, who approached white with terror, and
trembled like leaves beneath our caresses. On the
opposite side of the court was a young black girl,
about fifteen years old, wearing only a tunic, open on
one side in such a manner as to display the leg bare
from the hip to the foot, and fastened about the waist
so that the entire outline of the body could be dis-
tinctly traced — verily, the most graceful, elegant,
seductive figure of a woman, — I affirm it on the
authority of Signor Ussi, — that we have seen in Mo-
rocco up to the moment in which I write. She was
a slave, and stood leaning against a pilaster, her
arms folded across her bosom, regarding us with an
air of the most supreme indifference. Soon after an-
other negress came out of a small doorway. She was
a woman of about thirty, tall, somewhat severe of
aspect, robust, and as straight as the trunk of an aloe-
tree. Apparently the new-comer was a favorite of
the master of the house, for she approached him
familiarly, whispered some words in his ear, pulled a
bit of straw out of his moustache, and placed her hand
on his mouth with a gesture half-careless, half-caress-
ing, at which the Moor smiled. Raising our eyes, we
perceived that the gallery of the second-floor and the
parapet of the terrace were lined with female heads,

110 FEZ.

which promptly disappeared as we looked. It seemed
impossible that all these women could belong to the
house. No doubt the arrival of the Christians had
been announced to all the neighbors, who had forth-
with climbed up or jumped down from their respective
terraces to that of the house of Shellal. While we
were looking three passed close by us, like so many
spectres, their faces entirely covered, and disappeared
through a small doorway. They were three friends
who, having been unable to reach this terrace from their
own, had been forced to resign themselves to coming
in by the door ; we presently saw their heads appear-
ing above the railing of the gallery. The whole
house, in short, was turned into a theatre, we being
the entertainment. The spectators — all veiled —
laughed, chattered in undertones, peeped and jumped
back so suddenly that they seemed to be running
away. In answer to every movement on our part
there came a murmur from above 5 every time one
of us raised his head there was a tremendous commo-
tion in the dress circle. It was plain that they were
enjoying themselves collecting material for a month's
conversation, and could not contain their delight at
finding themselves so unexpectedly confronted by a
spectacle as strange as it was rare. And we, nothing
if not amiable, allowed them to enjoy the show for
nearly an hour, in silence though, and very much
bored, that being the effect produced after a little
while by all Moorish houses, no matter how courteous

FEZ. Ill

may be the hospitality tendered within them. The
reason is that, after having duly admired the beautiful
mosaics, the beautiful slaves and the beautiful chil-
dren, one turns instinctively to look for her who
should be the incarnation of domestic life, the charm,
the badge of honor of the house, setting her seal upon
the hospitality, giving its tone to the conversation and
breathing into the soul the vital spark of the lares,
for her, in short, who should be the pearl of this
shell, and seeing only women on whom the master
bestows caresses but not his heart, and sons of un-
known mothers, and the whole house centered in one
single individual, the hospitality seems but a cold
formality, and the host, losing all the attractive
qualities of a friend who seeks to do you honor, ap-
pears only in the light of a sensual and odious egoist.
There can be no doubt that if these people do not
actually hate us they at least do not like us, nor are
they without their reasons, both good and bad.
Among the descendants of the Spanish Moors, many
of whom still have in their possession the keys of
Andalusian cities and the title-deeds of houses and
estates in Seville and Granada, the hatred for the
Spaniards, by whom their ancestors were despoiled,
overpowered and banished, is particularly bitter. The
others hate all Christians in a general way, this feel-
ing being instilled into them from earliest childhood,
in both school and mosque, with a view to rendering
them averse to aU intercourse with civilized peoples

112 FEZ.

— intercourse which, by diminishing superstition and
ignorance, threatens to lay bare the foundations, both
religious and political, of the Empire. There is,
moreover, another cause, the vague consciousness,
that lies deep in their souls that the countries of
Europe represent a spreading, increasing, threatening
force which sooner or later is bound to crush them.
They can hear France murmuring on their eastern
borders, see the Spanish fortifications from the shore
of the Mediterranean. Tangier has been already
captured by an advance guard of Christians; the
cities of the west, mounted guard over by European
merchants, are drawn like a chain of scouts along the
whole of the Atlantic coast ; ambassadors overrun
the entire country seemingly only to bring the Sul-
tan gifts, but really, think they, to spy and examine
and smell out, and corrupt and prepare the way.
They are, in short, in constant expectation of an in-
vasion, and believe that it is to be accompanied by
all the horrors that revenge and hatred can invent,
persuaded as they are that Christians entertain to-
wards Mussulmans precisely the same sentiments that
they entertain towards us. How is it possible for
this aversion to give place to more kindly feelings,
seeing us, as they do, squeezed into our immodest gar-
ments, which outline the entire figure, clad in sinister
colors, laden down with memorandum-books, field-
glasses, all manner of mysterious instruments, thrust-
ing ourselves in everywhere, making notes, measur-

FEZ. 113

ing, wanting to know everything f We who laugh
all the time and never pray, restless, chattering,
drinking, smoking, filled with pretension and niggard-
liness, possessing but one wife apiece and not a sin-
gle servant of our own nationality. And so they
naturally form gloomy ideas of Europe, thinking of
it as an immense gathering of turbulent people, where
life is feverish, made up of restless ambitions, un-
bridled vice, tumults, journeys, reckless enterprises,
noise, bustle, the confusion of Babel — a condition
most displeasing to God.

Great excitement in the palace to-day owing to
the first and only enterprise of a romantic nature at-
tempted by any of the Christians in the personal ser-
vice of the embassy. This worthy youth, who it
seems had begun to weary somewhat of the diplomatic
austerity of the life he had been leading for the past
forty days, having caught sight, no one knows how,
of a lovely Moor pacing back and forth in her garden,
fancied (we all have our weaknesses) that she would
be unable to resist the fascinations of his handsome
person, and without giving a thought to the risk he
was running, contrived by means of a hole in the
wall to make his way into the forbidden enclosure.
Whether on coming up with the nymph he would
have made a declaration of love or would have
omitted all such preliminaries, and whether the
nymph on her part would have lent a favorable ear
Vol. II.— 8

114 FEZ.

or would have fled, screaming, no one can possibly
tell, since everything in this country is uncertain ;
but what we do know is that there suddenly appeared
from behind a bush four Moors armed with daggers,
two of whom seized him on one side and two on the
other, and the unfortunate lover would either have
never left the garden at all, or would have done so
with several eyelets in his person, had not the Kaid,
Hamed-Ben-Kasen Buhamei, unexpectedly presented
himself, and restraining the four Cerberuses with a
gesture of command, given the trespasser a chance
to carry his skin back to the palace intact. News
of the occurrence spread, and there was a great to
do. The culprit was severely reprimanded in the
presence of all, and the commander, who has a lively
wit, added a short address, which produced a pro-
found impression. It was to the effect that other
people's wives, especially when they happen to belong
to Mussulmans, are to be left severely alone ; that
when one becomes a member of a European embassy
in Morocco he must no longer consider himself a
man ; that in Mohammedan countries these affairs
with women develop very easily into international
difficulties, and it would be a pretty responsibility for
a worthy young fellow like himself, simply from hav-
ing failed to resist an inclination of the heart, to in-
volve his country in a war, the consequences of which
no one could possibly predict. By this time the un-
happy youth, who already saw the Italian fleet, with

FEZ. 115

a hundred thousand soldiers on board, weighing
anchor off the coast of Morocco solely on his account,
had become so cast down at the dire nature of his
offence that it appeared to be unnecessary to inflict
further punishment upon him.

I would very much like to know just what idea
these people have of their own military strength and
of their personal bravery as compared with the
strength and bravery of Europeans. I am afraid to
question them directly on this subject, because they
are extremely suspicious, and would probably think
that I was either ironical or boastful. I have, how-
ever, managed by dint of careful handling to find out
something without betraying my object. Of our
superior military strength I should say they were
perfectly conscious. Whatever doubts they may
have entertained on that head thirty years ago, when
as yet they had never had any really serious quarrel
with Europe, were set at rest at once and forever by
the French and Spanish wars, and especially by the
famous battles of Isly and Tetuan. But as far as
courage goes I think that they consider themselves
far superior to Europeans. The victories of the lat-
ter they attribute to their ordnance, discipline, and
tricks (strategy and tactics they call tricks), and not
to courage, and victories achieved by these means
are not, it would seem, in their estimation, bravely
won. The common people add to these advantages

116 FEZ.

compacts with evil spirits, without whose aid neither
guns nor tricks could avail to put to confusion the
armies of the Mussulmans. It is quite certain that
the quality of courage is not to be denied either to
the Arabs or the Berbers — who between them make
up most of the fighting force of Morocco — and by this
I do not mean merely that universal courageousness
which in Europe is allowed by all to be the common
property of every army ; for even taking into ac-
count the nature of the country and the secret aid
given by England, the Moorish army, disordered,
badly directed, badly armed, badly provisioned, could
never have held out as it did for nearly a year, with
a tenacity little expected in Europe, against the
Spanish forces, disciplined, armed and supplied with
every modern offensive device, had it not made up
by great personal bravery for the military power that
it lacked. One may deny that the term courage can
properly be applied to the fanaticism that causes a
man to hurl himself against ten others in search of a
death that shall open to him the gates of Paradise ;
the savage fury that causes a soldier to dash out his
brains against a stone rather than allow himself to be
taken alive ; the unreasoning frenzy of the wounded
man who tears off the bandages and opens his wounds
that he may escape imprisonment by death ; the
brute persistence that causes men to get themselves
killed with no object at all ; but we must admit that
in all of these instances there is the element of cour-

H IDillage in tbe Interior.

FEZ. 117

age, and it is indisputable that these people gave
many and tremendous lessons to Spain. After two
months of warfare the Spanish army had taken but
two prisoners, one an Arab of the province of Oran,
and the other a lunatic who had approached too near
to their outposts ; while in the sanguinary battle of
Castillejos but five of the Moorish force, and all five
wounded, fell into the hands of the victors. Their
traditional manoeuvres are to advance in a body
against the enemy, spread out rapidly, approach to
within range, discharge their muskets and retire pre-
cipitately to reload. In large engagements they dis-
pose themselves in the shape of a half-moon, the in-
fantry and artillery in the centre and the cavalry on
the two wings, their aim being to place the enemy
between two fires. The commander-in-chief gives a
general order, but each captain of a division advances
or retires as he thinks the occasion demands, and the
army easily slips out of the hands of its chief. They
are indefatigable horsemen, excellent marksmen, tena-
cious when behind a defence, but easily discomfited
in the open field. They can crawl like snakes, climb
like squirrels, run like wild goats ; they fall quickly
from a bold attack into a hasty flight, and from a
state of courageous exaltation, which resembles in-
sanity, to one of indescribable panic. There are still
some Moors in Morocco who were driven crazy by
fright at the battle of Isly, and it is well known that
at the first cannonade of Marshal Buseaud Sultan

118 FEZ.

Abd-er-Rhaman cried : " My horse ! My horse !" and
leaping into the saddle fled madly away, leaving on
the field his musicians, his fortune-tellers, his hunt-
ing-dogs, the sacred standard, his parasol, and his tea,
which the French soldiers found still boiling.

I meet so many negroes in the streets of Fez that
sometimes I almost think I am in one of the towns of
the Soudan, and begin to have a vague impression
that the Sahara desert must lie between me and
Europe. As a matter of fact most of them do come
from the Soudan, hardly fewer than three thousand
yearly, many of whom, it is said, die in a short time
of homesickness. They are usually carried off at the
age of eight or ten. Before exposing them for sale
the merchants fatten them up with balls of Kuskussti,
try to cure them of their homesickness with music,
and teach them a few words of Arabic, all of which
tends to enhance their value. This is usually thirty
francs for a boy, sixty for a girl, about four hundred
for a young unmarried woman of seventeen or eigh-
teen, handsome and able to talk, and fifty or sixty
for an old man. The Emperor takes five per cent, of
all the material imported, and has the right of first
choice ; the remainder are sold in the markets of
Mogador, Fez, and Morocco, and afterwards auctioned
off in all the other cities, where the purchasers, tra-
dition says, are so modestly considerate as not to re-
quire them to strip themselves in public. They

FEZ. 119

make no difficulty about embracing Mohammedanism,
clinging, however, to many of their singular super-
stitions and the wild festivities of their own country,
consisting for the most part of grotesque dances, last-
ing sometimes for three consecutive days ancl nights,
accompanied by diabolical music, from which they
only desist from time to time in order to swallow, with
the greed of animals, all sorts of nasty preparations.
For the most part they are employed in private
houses, where they are treated with kindness, large
numbers of them receiving their freedom in reward
for their services, and all are eligible to the very
highest offices in the state. But whatever their posi-
tion they are now feverishly active, now sluggishly
idle, as wanton as apes, as cunning as foxes, as sav-
age as tigers, but contented withal, and generally
loyal and grateful towards their masters, which it
appears is not the case where either the bondage is
more severe, as in Cuba, or where the slave enjoys an
excessive amount of freedom, as in Europe. The
Moorish and Arab women avoid them, and it is very
rare for a negro to marry any but a woman of his
own color ; but among the men, on the contrary, es-
pecially among the Moors, negresses are not only
eagerly sought after for concubines, but are as readily
married as white women ; hence the enormous num-
ber of mulattoes of every shade that one sees in Mo-
rocco. Strange vicissitudes ! The poor negro boy
who at ten years is sold on the borders of Sahara for

120 FEZ.

a bag of sugar or a piece of stuff, may, if he have
good luck, thirty years later, as Minister of Morocco,
discuss the details of a commercial treaty with the
English ambassador ; and more likely still the black
girl baby, born in a dirty cabin and exchanged in the
shade of an oasis for a gourd of brandy, may find her-
self, hardly yet grown, covered with jewels and
anointed with perfumes, clasped in the embrace of a
Sultan !

For the past few days, as I wander about the
streets of Fez, a certain image keeps rising up before
me with obstinate persistence. It is that of a great
American city, where people are gathered together
from all parts of the world ; one of those cities which
may almost be said to represent the type upon which
all new cities are gradually being formed, and whose
life it may be is but a sample of what in a century's
time all life in cities will be ; a city whose image
cannot come up before a European beside that of
Fez without calling forth a pitying smile, so great is
the distance that separates them along the lines of
human progress. And yet the longer I dwell in
thought upon that other one the more do certain de-
pressing doubts arise. I behold those great streets,
straight, interminable, in which, as far as the eye can
reach, rise the gigantic poles of the telegraph wires.
"It is the closing hour of stores and factories; torrents
of workmen, women and children go by — on foot, in
omnibuses and tram-cars, almost all proceeding in

Begro IDlllage near tbe 35ort)er5 ot tbe2)esert.

FEZ. 121

one direction — towards the outlying districts — and all
wearing the same mournful, anxious, weary expres-
sion. Dense clouds of smoke issuing from innumer-
able factory chimneys pour down into the streets,
throwing their black shadows athwart the splendid
plate-glass windows of the shops, the gilded letters of
the signs, which cover the buildings to the very roof,
and the hurrying crowd who, with bowed heads,
measured tread and swinging arms, flee from the spot
where throughout the day they toil in the sweat of
their brows. From time to time the sun tears asunder
that gloomy veil, which industry has drawn across
the capital of labor ; but these unexpected, fugitive
gleams of light, instead of enlivening the scene, serve
only to accentuate its moumfulness. All the faces
wear the same expression; every one is in haste to
get home, so that he may " economize " to the utmost
the few hours of rest that remain after having crowded
to their very fullest capacity the long hours of toil.
Each one seems to suspect in his neighbor a possible
rival. All wear the stamp of isolation. The moral
atmosphere breathed by these people is that of rivalry,
not charity. Many families live in hotels, a life which
condemns the women to idleness and soUtude. Dur-
ing the day the husband is away attending to his
business, only coming home at the dinner-hour to
swallow some food with the rapidity of a man dying
of hunger, and then return to his galley. Boys are
sent to school at the age of five or six, going back

122 FEZ.

and forth alone and spending the rest of their time as
they choose in the enjoyment of absolute liberty. Of
paternal authority there is almost none, and the boys
receive no training apart from that of the school, . . .
mature rapidly, and prepare themselves almost from
infancy for the life of strenuous toil, struggle, hard-
ship, excitement, and adventure that awaits them.
The existence of the man is one long campaign, an
uninterrupted succession of battles, marches, and
countermarches. The tenderness and privacy of
the domestic hearth play but a very small part in this
warlike and feverish career. Is he happy? To
judge by his looks, weary, sad, uneasy, frequently
pale and unhealthy, it seems very doubtful. This
excess of work without relief exhausts his powers,
interferes with all intellectual enjoyment, and prevents
him from cultivating his mind. And the wife suffers
even more from this habit of life than her husband,
whom she sees but once during the day for half an
hour at most, and again at night, when, worn out with
fatigue, he comes home merely to sleep. She is un-
able to lighten his burden, or to share his griefs,
worries, or labors, because she is ignorant of their
nature, want of time making any degree of real inti-
macy between them impossible." This city is Chicago,
and the description was written by Baron Hubner, a
great admirer of America. Now the doubt that as-
sails me is this : I do not know which place, Fez or
Chicago, fills me with the most compassion. But one

FEZ. 123

thing I do know, that, were I a Moor of Fez and a
Christian should lead me through one of the great
cities of civilization and then ask if I were not envi-
ous, I would burst out laughing in his face.

This morning Selam recounted to me in his own
fashion the famous story of the brigand Arusi. It is
one of those innumerable tales which are passed about
from mouth to mouth, from the seaboard to the desert ;
founded, however, upon an actual occurrence of so
recent a date that some of the witnesses to it are
still living. Soon after the close of the war with
France the Sultan Abd-er-Rahman sent a force to
punish the inhabitants of the Rif for having set fire
to a French vessel. Among the various Sheiks who
were notified by the commander of the army to de-
nounce all the culprits known to them was one named
Sid-Mohammed- Abd-el-Dijebar, already well advanced
in years, who, being jealous of a certain brave and
handsome young man named Arusi, gave him up,
though quite innocent, to the authorities, hoping that
he might be taken under custody to Fez ; this in
fact was done, but he only remained in prison for
one year. On regaining his liberty he went to Tan-
gier, where he stayed for some time ; then he disap-
peared, and for a while nothing more was heard of
him. Not long after, however, there began to be a
great deal of talk in the Province of Gharb about a
certain band of robbers and assassins which infested

124 FEZ.

the country lying between Rabat and El Araish.
Caravans were attacked, merchants robbed, Kaids
roughly handled, the Sultan's soldiers stabbed; in
short no one dared any longer to travel through that
region of country, while such as managed to escape
alive from the hands of the assassins returned to the
cities absolutely dazed with terror. Matters had gone
on thus for a long time without anyone ever having
succeeded in discovering the identity of the leader,
when a certain merchant, who revived after having been
set upon one moonlight night, brought back word to
Tangier that he had recognized among the robbers
young Arusi,and the news spread like wildfire through-
out Gharb. The leader of the band undoubtedly was
Arusi. Many others now recognized him, he was seen
in the duars and villages by day and night, dressed
as a soldier, a Kaid, a Jew, a Christian, a woman, an
ulema. He killed, robbed, and disappeared ; chased
on all sides, but never caught ; always unexpected,
always in some fresh guise, capricious, fierce, untir-
ing, and never going very far away from the citadel
of El Mamora, a circumstance that puzzled everyone.
The reason, however, was not very far to seek, for
the Kaid of the citadel of El Mamora happened to be
at that time Sid-Mohammed-Abd-el-Dijebar, he who
had delivered Arusi into the hands of the Sultan's
general. It so fell out that Sid-Mohammed-Abd-el-
Dijebar had bestowed his daughter, a young girl of
marvellous beauty named Rahmana, in marriage upon

FEZ. 125

the son of the Pasha of Sla, who was named Sid Ali.
The marriage feast was celebrated with great pomp
and magnificence in the presence of all the wealthiest
yoimg men of the province, who came on horseback,
armed and dressed in their richest garments, to the
citadel of El Mamora. Sid Ali was to escort his bride
to his father's house in Sla. The cortege issued forth
from the citadel by night, the road leading through a
narrow defile lying betAveen a chain of wooded hills
on the one hand and a sweep of upland downs on the
other. An escort of thirty horsemen led the way;
behind these came Rahmana mounted upon a mule,
between her husband and brother ; after Rahmana
came the Kaid, her father, and a crowd of relatives
and friends. They entered the gorge, the night was
clear, the groom held Rahmana's hand clasped in his,
the old Kaid stroked his beard, everyone was full of
mirth and gayety. Suddenly a terrible voice was
heard breaking the silence of the night. " Arusi
greets thee, oh Sheik Sid-Mohammed-Abd-el-Dijebar!"
and at the same instant thirty guns flashed from the
summit of a neighboring hill, and thirty reports were
heard. Horses, soldiers, relatives, friends dropped
dead, or swayed wounded in their saddles, or flew in
disorder, and before the Kaid or Sid Ali, who had
neither of them received any injury, could recover
from their astonishment a man, a fury, a demon —
Arusi, in short — had flung himself from the hill-top,
seized Rahmana, placed her on his own saddle, and

126 FEZ.

galloped off at full speed towards the forest of Ma-
mora. The Kaid and Sid Ali, both resolute men, in-
stead of abandoning themselves to useless despair,
made a solemn oath that they would not shave their
heads until they had been fearfully revenged. They
asked for and obtained soldiers from the Sultan, and
set out in pursuit of Arusi, who, with his band, had
taken refuge in the mighty forest of Mamora. It
was an exhausting form of warfare, composed en-
tirely of surprises, ambuscades, night attacks, feints,
and fierce skirmishes, and was prolonged for over a
year, during which time the band was driven little
by little to the centre of the forest. The robbers
were at length completely surrounded, and the circle
was growing smaller and smaller. Many of Arusi's
followers had already died of starvation, many had
fled, and many been killed in battle. The Kaid and
All, now that their end was nearly achieved, grew
more and more fierce ; they did not close their eyes
night or day, and breathed only revenge. But of
Arusi and Rahmana nothing could be learned. Some
said they had died of want, others declared that they
had escaped, while others believed that the bandit
had killed both the bride and himself. Sid Ali and
the Kaid began to despair ; the further they advanced
the thicker grew the trees, the higher and more tan-
gled the underbrush, vines, junipers, and bramble-
bushes, so that the horses and dogs were no longer
able to open a path. At length one day, as they

FEZ. 127

were walking in the forest silent and discouraged, an
Arab was seen running towards them ; he had come
from a long distance, and declared that he had seen
Arusi hiding among some rushes on the bank of a
river at the edge of the forest. The Kaid assembled
his men in hot haste, divided them into two com-
panies, and dispatched them one to the right and the
other to the left in the direction of the river. After
a long chase the Kaid was the first to see a phantom-
like shape, a man of lofty stature and terrible aspect,
who rose up out of the rushes in the distance — Arusi.
Everyone flew to the spot, reached it, wheeled about,
groped, searched, smelled, but there was no Arusi.
They were on the river-bank. " He has crossed to
the other side," shouted the Kaid. Everyone threw
himself into the water and made for the opposite
shore. Here the ground showed traces of footsteps ;
they followed them, but aU of a sudden they came to
an end. " He has jumped into the river again," cried
the Kaid, " and is going to land farther down." The
horsemen thereupon started off to gallop along the
bank ; but just at that moment the Kaid's attention
was attracted by his three dogs, who had stopped and
were sniffing about close to a group of rushes. Sid
All reached the spot first, and found hard by the
rushes a deep trench, in the bottom of which were a
number of small holes. Jumping into the trench he
introduced the barrel of his gun into one of the holes,
and, meeting with some resistance, fired — at the same

128 FEZ.

time calling the Kaid. Everyone came running up ;
they searched here and there, and at last discovered
a smallj round opening in the bank just above the
water-level. Arusi had evidently entered his subter-
ranean retreat through this opening. " Dig !" shrieked
the Kaid. The soldiers hastened to procure spades
and pickaxes from the neighboring duars, returned,
and set to work, and before long, breaking through

the earthen roof, discovered a cave At the

end of the cave stood Arusi, immovable and pale as
death, his arms hanging motionless at his sides. They
seized him unresisting, and dragged him forth ; his
left eye was gone ; then binding him they conveyed
him to one of the tents, where he was laid on the
ground, and, as a sort of foretaste of revenge, Sid
All cut his toes oif, one by one, with his dagger,
throwing them in his face as he did so. This done,
he and the Kaid withdrew to another tent to consult
as to what form of torture they should subject him to
before beheading him, leaving him meanwhile in the
custody of six soldiers. The discussion lasted a long
time, as there was a rivalry between them as to which
should propose the most horrible torments. Night
finally came on, and nothing had yet been suggested
that seemed to them bad enough, so postponing the
decision till the morning they parted. An hour later
the Kaid and All were lying each in his own tent.
The night was very dark, not a breath of wind was
stirring, not a leaf rustled, nothing could be heard

FEZ. 129

but the murmur of the river and the regular breath-
ing of the sleepers. Suddenly a terrible voice broke
through the stillness. " Arusi greets thee, oh Sheik
Sid-Mohammed-Abd-el-Dijebar !" The old Kaid
leaped to his feet in dismay, and heard the rapid beat
of a horse's hoofs dying away in the distance. He
called the soldiers, who came running to the spot.
" My horse ! My horse !" he cried, and everyone be-
gan searching for it, the most superb animal in the
Gharb ; but it had disappeared. They ran into Sid
All's tent, only to find him extended on the ground
Ufeless, with a dagger driven through his left eye.
The Kaid burst into lamentations, and the soldiers
started off in pursuit of the fugitive. For one moment
they had a vision of him, like a shade in the distance,
then lost him again ; once more they saw him, flying
like lightning, and after that he disappeared finally
from view. They continued the chase nevertheless
during the whole night, until reaching at last a place
where the forest became very thick they concluded
to wait imtil it should grow lighter before pushing on.
Hardly was the sun well up, however, when the
Kaid's horse was seen coming toward them, covered
with blood and neighing mournfully. Confident now
that Arusi was in the thicket, they unleashed the
dogs and advanced, with their weapons held in readi-
ness. After a short walk they arrived at a ruined
hut, half-hidden among the trees. The dogs ran
to it and stopped, and the soldiers, creeping up be-
VoL. 11.-^9

130 FEZ.

hind them on tiptoe, reached the door, levelled their
guns, and — let them fall to the ground with a cry of
amazement. Extended on the middle of the floor lay
the dead body of Anisi, and beside it knelt a beauti-
ful girl, magnificently dressed, with dishevelled hair,
who was occupied in binding up the bleeding feet,
sobbing, laughing, and murmuring impassioned words
of mingled love and despair in a childish voice. It
was Rahmana. They took her back to her father's
house, where she remained for three days without
uttering a word, and then disappeared, being found
later among the ruins of the house in the wood dig-
ging up the ground with her hands and calling for
Arusi. Nor would she consent to leave the spot
again. " Grod," as the Arabs would say, " had re-
called her reason to Himself, and she had become a
saint." Whether she is still alive or not no one
knows. Certain it is that she was living twenty
years ago, and that she was seen in her hermitage
by Signer Narcisco Cotte, attache to the French con-
sulate at Tangier, who tells the story himself.

There is now not a corner of Fez that we have
left unexplored, and yet at the same time we feel
as though we might have arrived yesterday, so un-
ending is the variety which this imposing scene
presents of wall and gate, of tower and ruin 5 so
strongly does everything remind us of our own isola-
tion, so impossible do we find it to accustom ourselves

arab Water Carrier,

FEZ. 181

to being the objects of universal curiosity. This
curiosity has, in fact, not subsided in the least, al-
though by now every inhabitant of Fez must have
seen us over and over again. It is the distrust, and
it would almost seem a little of the dislike as well,
that has disappeared : the children come up close to
us and feel our clothes to see what they are made of;
the women, it is true, regard us with a surly expres-
sion, but they no longer turn their backs outright
when they see us coming in the distance ; curses are
becoming quite rare ; the soldiers do not have to use
their clubs as formerly, and the blow aimed at Ussi
was the first, and I hope the last, that I will have to
report on my return to Italy. Although when we
walk about the city, we are always preceded and fol-
lowed by just as large crowds as at first, I feel confi-
dent that we could go out alone without running the
smallest risk of being killed. Already the public,
according to the embassy soldiers, has, in pursuance
of the Moorish custom, dubbed us with nicknames.
The doctor is the " man with the eye-glasses ;" the
vice-consul, the " man with the hooked nose ;" the
captain, the " man with the black boots ;" Ussi is the
" man with the white handkerchief;" the commander,
the " man with the short legs ;" Biseo is the " red-
headed man ;" Morteo, the " velvet man," because of
his velvet suit ; and I am the " man with the broken
shoe," because a pain in one of my feet obliged me
to cut a long slit in one shoe. They discuss our

132 FEZ.

affairs, it seems, a great deal, and think us all very
ugly, without making any exception, not even in
favor of the cook, who, by the way, received this
piece of information with a derisive laugh, at the
same time clapping his hand over his waistcoat
pocket, where he carries a letter from his sweetheart.
It strikes me that they also either think us ridiculous
or pretend they do, because on the street every time
one of us stumbles, or knocks his head against the
branch of a tree, or loses his hat, they all laugh with
a certain ostentation. Notwithstanding all this and
the variety of the sights, this population, all of one
color, with no apparent distinction of rank, the ab-
sence of all noise except the everlasting patter of
slippers and flapping of cloaks, the veiled women,
the blind, silent houses, the life so full of mystery,
ends by palling on us dreadfully. The inhabitants
are ahve, the city dead. At sunset we must be in-
doors, nor are we permitted to go out again. Every
form of business stops at nightfall, every sign of life
or movement. Fez then becomes nothing but a vast
necropolis, where if a human voice by any chance be
heard, it is either the shout of a lunatic or the cry of
some one being attacked ; while should one insist
upon going out for a ramble at all costs, he must be
accompanied by a patrol with loaded guns and a troop
of carpenters to break down the gates which bar the
road at every three hundred feet. By day the city
can furnish no other news beyond the account of a

FEZ. 133

woman found dead in the street with a dagger driven
into her heart, the departure of some small caravan,
the arrival of a governor or sub-governor of a prov-
ince, who is to be thrown into prison, the flogging
of some miscreant, a fete in honor of one of the
saints, — when we can hear the firing from the palace, —
and other matters of the same sort, all told us by
Mohammed Ducali or Shellal, our two walking daily
chronicles. These bits of news, and what goes on
before my eyes every day, combine, with the strange
life I am leading, to give me the most remarkable
dreams at night, visions of decapitated heads, deserts,
harems, prisons, Fez, Timbuctu, Turin, so that I
awake in the morning with my head in a whirl, and not
sure at first what world I am in. How many beautiful,
grotesque, horrible, absurd, and strange figures will
remain for all time imprinted upon my memory !
My brain is full of them, and sometimes when I am
alone I pass them in review, one at a time, like the
slides in a magic-lantern, with an inexpressible sense
of enjoyment. First comes Sid-Buker, a mysterious
personage who, three times a day, enveloped in a
great gray cloak, with lowered head and half-closed
eyes, as pale as death, as furtive as a ghost, glides
into the palace, and after holding a private confer-
ence with the ambassador, disappears unseen by any-
one, like some spectral apparition. Then Sid-Musa's
favorite servant, a very handsome young mulatto,
endowed with a childlike grace and princely elegance

134 FEZ.

of mien ; fresh, smiling, he runs and leaps up and
down the stairway and greets us with a sort of
coquetry, bowing low with one hand extended as
though wafting us a kiss. Then one of the soldiers
of the guard, a native Berber, born in the Atlas
mountains ; his is a sanguinary countenance that one
cannot behold without a shudder. Every time we
meet he fixes upon me a cold, steady, treacherous
stare, as though he were then considering the expe-
diency of shooting me ; and the more I try to avoid
him the oftener do I encounter him, until it almost
seems as though he must guess the repulsion with
which he inspires me and take a satanic pleasure in
exciting it. Then comes a decrepit old woman, whom
I saw one day in a mosque door, naked from head to
foot, except for a rag wound about her loins, her head
shaved as clean as the palm of my hand, and her
body wasted to such a degree that the sight called
forth an exclamation of horror from me, and I could
feel the blood rush to my head. The next one is the
figure of a Moorish woman who was entering her
house one day as we passed by j just before closing
the door she hastily threw back her haikj giving us
an opportunity to observe her charming graceful form,
then, with a coquettish glance, banged to the door.
And next it is a very old shopkeeper, with a face
half-comical, half-sinister, so bent that as he sits in
the rear of his dark little niche his chin almost rests
on his feet ; he keeps only one eye open, and that

FEZ. 185

barely so, until some passer-by happening to peer in
his shop, it suddenly opens to an extraordinary ex-
tent, and gleams with an expression of mocking
amusement, most disconcerting to the intruder. And
then a pretty little ten-year-old Moorish girl, with
her hair hanging down her back, dressed in a white
tunic fastened about the waist with a green sash,
who, as she was in the act one day of climbing down
from one terrace to another, caught her draperies on
the projecting end of a brick and dangled there, re-
veahng more than one secret to the air of heaven.
Conscious of being seen from the embassy palace,
and quite unable to get either up or down, she began
screaming like a maniac, whereupon all the women
came running out on the neighboring terraces shriek-
ing with laughter. Then there is the gigantic crazy
mulatto, who, possessed by a fixed idea that the Sul-
tan's soldiers are after him to cut off one of his hands,
flies through one street after another like a shade
pursued, waving his right arm excitedly as though it
were already mutilated, and giving vent to piercing
cries that resound from one quarter of the city to the
other. There are many, many more, but the one
who arrests my attention the longest of all is a negro,
fifty years old, one of the palace servants, not much
over three feet high, and pretty nearly as broad, a
cheerful, contented soul, always smiling, with his
whole mouth twisted around to his right ear. His is
the most absolutely grotesque, absurd, ridiculous

136 FEZ.

figure that ever was seen under heaven. In vain
do I bite my lips, tell myself that it is ignoble to
laugh at the sight of human deformity, try to shame
myself in a thousand ways, the laugh will come in
spite of all my efforts to suppress it. It seems as
though there must be some underlying, mysterious
design of Providence in that strange shape, though,
Heaven forgive me, the only thing I can think of is
that I would like to buy him for a pipe.

As the day of our departure begins to approach
merchants assemble in crowds in the palace, and
everyone is buying furiously. Rooms, halls, and
court-yards are turned into gay bazaars ; in all direc-
tions are long rows of vases, embroidered slippers,
dishes, cushions, rugs, and hatks. Everything in
Fez, most profusely gilded, most covered with ara-
besques, most highly thought of, is displayed tempt-
ingly before us during these last few days. It is in-
teresting to see the manner of conducting business
among these people ; not a word is uttered, not a
smile seen, a simple movement of the head to signify
yes or no, and at the conclusion, whether they have
sold anything or not, they move off looking just as
much like automatons as when they came. Among
the rest it is a fine sight to see the artists' room
turned into a broker's shop, full of saddles, stirrups,
guns, caftans, torn scarves, earthenware, barbarous-
looking ear-rings, old belts made for women, come

IRitaan from tbe Htlas /IDountains.

FEZ. 137

Heaven only knows from whence, and which may-
many a time have felt the pressure of the imperial
embrace, while it may be that next year they will
gleam out of some imposing picture exhibited at
Naples or Philadelphia. But there is one line of
articles which is entirely absent, and that is any
kind of object of antiquity or relic of the various
peoples who from time to time have conquered or colo-
nized Morocco. It is indeed a well-known fact that
such articles are frequently dug out of the ground
or picked up among the ruins, but there is no way of
getting possession of them ; everything that is found
belongs to the authorities, and hence whoever hap-
pens to discover anything, promptly hides it, while
the authorities themselves are so utterly ignorant of
their real value, that they destroy or sell as useless
stuff what little does come into their possession ; thus
a few years since, when a horse and some statuettes
of bronze were found in a well near an ancient aque-
duct, they were broken in pieces and sold for old
copper to a Jew dealer.

I have had a lively discussion to-day with a mer-
chant of Fez, my object being to find out, if possi-
ble, the views held by Moors on the subject of Euro-
pean civilization, making no effort, except what was
necessary to spur him on, to refute his arguments. He
is a handsome Moor, about forty years old, with a good,
somewhat severe type of face, who has had occasion

138 FEZ.

to visit, in the way of business, almost all the prin-
cipal cities of Western Europe, and has also spent a
good deal of time in Tangier, where he picked up a
little Spanish. I had already had some conversation
with him on the preceding day touching a small piece
of stuff woven out of silk and gold thread, whose
beauty he valued at ten marenghi; but to-day, allud-
ing to his travels, I succeeded in drawing him out to
such an extent that his companions sat by in amaze-
ment, listening without being able to understand a
word. I asked him, first, what impression the great
capitals of Europe had made on him, without, how-
ever, expecting any great expression of astonishment,
because I know, as everyone else does, that of the
four or five hundred Moors who visit Eiirope in the
course of every year, the greater part return to their
own country more stupidly fanatical, when they are
not more depraved and vicious, than before ; and if
they are astounded at the grandeur of our streets and
the extent of our industries, not one seems to have his
spirit moved within him, his imagination fired, or to
feel himself spurred on to do, and endeavor, and imi-
tate ; not one is convinced of the total inferiority of
his own country ; or, at all events, if he is he is not
going to run the risk of expressing such unpopular
sentiments, and still less attempt to diffuse them, for
fear of bringing upon himself the charge of being a
renegade Mussulman, an enemy of his country.
"What do you think," I asked, "of our large

FEZ. 139

cities ?" He regarded me fixedly, and answered
coldly :

" Wide streets, fine shops, handsome palaces, great
factories .... and all clean."

And with that he seemed to have said all he could
in our favor.

" Did you see nothing else that seemed to you
either admirable or beautiful ?" I asked. He looked
at me as though he would inquire on his side what
else I could possibly suppose he would find to admire.
" Possibly," I ventured, " a man of your intelligence,
who has been to so many countries, all so wonderfully
different and superior to his own, might allude to
them with a little wonder, or at least the animation
of a boy from the duar who has seen for the first
time a pasha's palace. What is there in all the
world that will surprise you then ? What sort of
people are you? Who can possibly understand you?"

^^Perdone, Ustedy'' he answered, coldly, " I can only
say that I do not understand you. When I have
enumerated all the things in which I think you are
superior to us, what more do you wish me to say ?
You want to know what I think? Well, I think
your streets are wider than ours, that your shops are
handsomer, that you have factories, that we have not,
and that your palaces are very fine. It seems to
me that there is nothing more left to say. There is
still another thing that I could mention, but which
you know quite as well as I, since you have books

140 FEZ.

and read — " I made an impatient gesture. " No,
do not be impatient, Caballero/^ he continued, tran-
quilly. " You admit that the first duty of man, the
first thing that commands respect, and that consti-
tutes the most important indication of the superiority
of one country over another, is honesty, is it notf
Well, in the matter of honesty I do not consider that
your people are one whit better than ours, that is one
thing."

" Softly," said I; " you must first explain what you
mean by that word honesty."

"I mean commercial honesty, Caballcro. The
Moors, for instance, sometimes cheat the Europeans
in trade, but the Europeans cheat the Moors much
oftener."

" Such instances must be very rare," said I, for
something to say.

" Casos raros .'" he exclaimed, growing warm. " It
happens every day!" (And here I only wish it were
possible to give any idea of his broken, childish, ex-
cited way of talking.) " Examples ! Examples ! I
at Marseilles ! I am in Marseilles, I buy cotton, I
select the warp ; this quality, I say, this number, this
stamp, so much, send. I pay, I leave, arrive in Mo-
rocco, receive the cotton, open it, look at it — the
same number, the same stamp, the warp three times
smaller ! Good for nothing ! Thousands of francs
lost ! I fly to the consul .... no use. Otro, an-
other. A merchant of Fez orders light-blue cloth

FEZ. 141

from Europe. So many pieces, such a width, so
many lengths, it is agreed upon and paid for. He
gets the cloth, opens it, measures it ; the top pieces
are all right, the next shorter, the last are half a
metre short ! They will not do for cloaks — the mer-
chant is ruined. Otro, otro. A merchant of Morocco
orders a thousand metres of gold braid from Europe,
to be used on uniforms, and forwards the money.
The braid arrives, cut in pieces, sewed together,
rolled up ... . brass! Yotros, yotros, yotros T
So saying, he raised his face to the sky, and then
turning quickly towards me repeated, " You more
honest V

I again remarked that these must be very excep-
tional cases, to which he made no reply.

" You more religious V he presently continued.
" No !" and then, after a moment, " One need only
enter your mosques once."

" Just tell me," said he, encouraged by my silence,
" do fewer matamientos (murders) take place in your
country than here ?"

I was somewhat at a loss what answer to make.
What would he have said had I confessed that in
Italy alone three thousand murders are committed
every year, and there are ninety thousand prisoners,
counting those awaiting trial and those already con-
victed.

" I think not," he said, reading the truth in my
face.

142 FEZ.

Not feeling myself very sure on this ground I
changed the subject, and introduced the usual attack
on polygamy. He bounded as though I had struck
him.

" Always that !" he cried, getting red to the tips of
his ears. " Always that ! as though you had but one
wife apiece. You expect us to believe that ! Only
one may belong to you, but whose are all those others?
Paris ! London ! The cafes, the streets, the theatres,
all full of them, and you undertake to reprove the
Moors !" and so saying, he ran his fingers, trembling
with excitement, along his rosary, looking around
from time to time with a slight smile, intended to
show me that his indignation was not kindled against
me personally, but against Europe in general. See-
ing that this was a matter he took too seriously I
again shifted my ground, and asked him if he did not
recognize how much more convenient our way of
living was than theirs, and here he was very amus-
ing, his answers being evidently all prepared.

" True," said he, ironically. " True ! Sun ?
parasol. Rain 1 lunbrella. Dust 1 gloves. Walk ?
stick. See ? eye-glasses. Ride ? carriage. Sit
down ? springs. Eat ? implements. A scratch ? the
doctor. Death ? a statue. How many things you
must have! What Men. PorDios! What children !"

In short, he was unwilling to admit anything in
our favor} he even laughed at our architecture.

" No, no," he said, when I spoke of the conveni-

FEZ. 143

ences of our houses. " There are three hundred peo-
ple in one dwelling, all on top of one another, and it
is nothing but climb, climb, climb } and there is not
enough air or light, and no garden."

Then I spoke of our laws, of government, of liberty,
and other matters of a similar nature, and since he
was a man of some penetration I did seem to succeed,
if not in making him actually realize the enormous
difference that exists in these particidars between his
country and Europe, at least in making some faint
glimmer of light reach his brain. Seeing that he
would be unable to hold his own here he suddenly
changed the subject, and looking me over from head
to foot said, smilingly, " Mai vestidos^^ (badly dressed).
I replied that dress was a matter of trifling import-
ance, and asked if he did not recognize as another
proof of our superiority the fact that, instead of
spending so much of our time idly seated cross-legged
on a mattress, we occupied ourselves in a thousand
different ways, both useful and amusing. He re-
turned a more profound answer than I had at all ex-
pected, saying that it did not strike him as a good
sign, this everlasting necessity for occupation in order
to pass away the time. Was life then a penance in
itself, that we were unable to spend one hour with-
out doing something, without some sort of distraction!
Were we afraid of ourselves ? Was there some in-
ward torment ?

" But just look," said I, " at the spectacle your

144 FEZ.

streets present; what solitude, what silence, what
misery. Were you ever in Paris ? Just compare
the Parisian streets with those of Fez." And now he
was really sublime. He jumped to his feet laughing,
and then more with gestures than in words drew a
mocking picture of the appearance of our streets.

" Go, come, run ; wagons here, carriages there ;
deafening noise ; drunken men staggering along ;
gentlemen buttoning up their coats for fear of pick-
pockets ; policemen at every step, looking around as
thovigh they expected a thief at every step as well ;
children and old people running the risk every mo-
ment of being knocked down by the carriages of the
rich ; bold-looking women, and even young girls who
look men full in the face, and behave in all sorts of
unbecoming ways ; and everyone with a cigar in his
mouth ; and on all sides people going in and out of
shops to gorge and drink liquor, to have their hair
brushed, to look at themselves, to be gloved ; and the
dandies, lounging in front of the cafes, who whisper
things in the ears of other people's wives as they go
by; and what a ridiculous way of bowing and walk-
ing on the points of the feet, swaying and hopping ;
and great heavens, what womanish curiosity !" and
here he waxed indignant, telling how one day in a
small town in Italy, having gone out dressed in the
Moorish fashion, he was immediately surrounded by
a great crowd of persons, who ran behind and before
him, laughing and calling out, and woidd hardly let

FEZ. 145

him walk along, so that he was at last obliged to re-
turn to his hotel and change his clothes. " And is
not that the way you do in your country ? You ask
me ? I say to that that it is perfectly natural that it
should be done here, where they never see any Chris-
tians, but in your country, where our manner of dress
is perfectly well known from the pictures, sending
artists here as you do with machines and colors to
take our portraits, among you who know everything,
does it not seem to you that such things ought not to
happen ?" And having thus relieved his feelings he
smiled courteously at me, as much as to say " All of
which need not prevent us two from being good
friends."

The conversation turned next upon European in-
dustries, railroads, the telegraph, and other great
works of public utility. Of these he allowed me to
talk without interrupting me once, even occasionally
nodding assent. When I had concluded, however,
he only gave a sigh, and said :

" But after all, of what use are these things, since
we must all die ?"

" Well then," I said at length, " you would not ex-
change your condition for ours ?"

He remained thoughtful for a little while, and then
answered :

" No, as you live no longer than we, and are no
healthier, nor better, nor more religious, nor more
contented. So let us alone in peace. Why should you
Vol. II.— 10

146 FEZ.

wish everyone to live as you do, and to be happy in
your fashion ? Let every one remain in the con-
dition in which Allah has placed him. It is for some
good reason that Allah has caused a sea to roll be-
tween Africa and Europe ; let us then respect his
decrees."

" And do you believe," I asked, " that you will
always remain just so ? That we will not make
you change little by little I" "I do not know," he
replied; "you are the stronger, and you will do
as you choose. Everything that is going to happen
is already written, but whatever may occur, Allah
will never abandon the faithful." And with these
words he took my right hand, pressed it to his heart,
and moved off with stately tread.

This morning at sunrise I went to see the Sultan
review the garrison, which he does three times a
week, in the square where the embassy was received.
As I went out of the Butter Niche Gate I saw a sam-
ple of the artillery manoeuvres. A crowd of soldiers,
old and middle-aged men and boys, all dressed in
scarlet, were running along behind a small gun
drawn by a mule. It was one of the twelve field-
pieces presented by the Spanish Government to Sul-
tan Sid-Mohammed after the war of 1860. Every
now and then the mule would slip, or turn aside, or
stop outright, and then the entire childish rabble
would begin shouting and belaboring, jumping about

FEZ. 147

and laughing as though they were escorting a car-
nival car. In the course of twenty feet they had
stopped half a dozen times ; every moment some fresh
accident would occur. Now they dropped the bucket^
now the rammer, now some other object, everything
being hung on the gun-carriage. The mule zig-
zagged on according to his fancy, or rather in the
direction in which he was impelled by the gun as it
came rolling down the small declivities after him.
Everyone issued orders, which no one obeyed. The
big ones cuffed the smaller, and they in turn the lit-
tle ones, who cuffed each other, and the gun mean-
while was nearly in the same spot as at first. It was
a scene to have given General Lamarmora brain
fever. On the left bank of the River of Pearls
about two thousand infantry soldiers were assembled,
some of them stretched full length on the ground,
some standing about in groups. In the square, be-
tween the river and the walls, a detachment of artil-
lery were firing at a mark. They had four guns,
and in their midst stood a tall, white figure — the Sul-
tan— his outline barely visible from where I stood.
He seemed to address some words to the soldiers from
time to time, as though he were giving them advice.
On the opposite side of the square, near the bridge,
there was a group of Moors, Arabs, and negroes, both
men and women, city and country people, gentle-folks
and peasants, all standing close together, and wait-
ing, I was told, until the Sultan should call them up

148 FEZ.

one after another, when each would have some favor
to ask or act of justice to demand, the Sultan holding
these audiences three times a week for the benefit of
all who wish to speak with him. Some of those un-
fortunates may have come from far-away towns or
districts to complain of the tyranny of a Governor
or to implore pardon for relatives languishing in
prison. There were ragged women and feeble old
men, and all their faces were weary and sad j in each
one could be plainly read longing impatience, com-
bined with a dread of being at last brought face to
face with the Prince of the Faithful, the supreme
judge who in a few moments, and with a few words,
would decide their fate perhaps for the rest of their
lives. As far as I could see they had nothing in their
hands or at their feet, so I think that the present
Sultan must have abolished the custom which once
existed of always accompanying a demand with a
gift of some sort, which was never refused, even if it
were only a pair of chickens or a basket of eggs.
I walked about a little among the soldiers ; the youths
were divided up into groups of thirty or forty, and
were amusing themselves by chasing or jumping over
one another, placing their hands for the latter exer-
cise on each other's shoulders. In some parties, how -
ever, the fun consisted in a sort of pantomime, which,
as soon as the meaning became clear to me, made me
shudder. It represented cutting off hands and heads,
and various other forms of punishment, which no

fc5* H ipublic Celebratiout

i^m- -^aJSiiimi

FEZ. 149

doubt they had frequently seen administered them-
selves. One boy would act the part of the Kaid,
another that of the executioner, and a third would
represent the victim, this last, when his hand had
been cut off, for instance, pretending to plunge the
stump in pitch, while another, picking up the severed
hand, would make as though he were tossing it to the
dogs, and thereupon all the spectators would laugh.
The vicious look of these soldiers is not to be de-
scribed. There were all shades and colors, from
ebony-black to orange, and not one of them, even
among the youngest, retained the smallest trace of
the ingenuousness of youth, there being a something
hard, bold, sneering or cynical about them all that
aroused one's compassion rather than indignation.
It does not, however, require any very great discern-
ment to perceive how impossible it is for them to be
otherwise. The men meanwhile, for the most part,
lay stretched on the ground dozing ; others danced
like negroes in the middle of a circle of spectators,
going through all manner of buffooneries and grim-
aces j others were fencing with their swords in the
same way I had seen this exercise conducted in Tan-
gier, skipping about like tight-rope dancers. The
officers, many of whom were renegades easily recog-
nized by their features, pipes, and a certain nameless
care about their dress, walked somewhat apart, and
avoided my eye when I happened to meet any of
them. Beyond the bridge, in a sequestered spot.

150 FEZ.

there were about twenty men wrapped in white
cloaks, who lay stretched beside one another on the
ground, all as immovable as statues. Drawing near, I
saw that their arms and legs were boimd with heavy
chains. They were criminals convicted of minor
offences, carried about by the troops in order to ex-
pose them thus in the pillory. On my approach they
all turned their heads and regarded me with an ex-
pression that made me glad to turn my back. Leav-
ing the neighborhood of the soldiers, I went to rest
beneath the shade of a palm-tree which grew on a
small hillock overlooking the entire plain. I had
been there but a few moments when I observed an
officer detach himself from a group and come slowly
towards me, looking about and humming to himself
as though not wishing to attract attention. He was
a short, thick-set man, dressed in a sort of zouave
costume, surmounted by a fez, carried no arms, and
looked to be about forty. As I got a closer view of
his face I was conscious of a feeling of repulsion.
I had never seen in the dock of any criminal court
a more treacherous countenance, and would have
taken my oath that he had at least a dozen murders
on his conscience, with indignities to the bodies
thrown in. He stopped M^hen he was about two feet
away, and fixing a pair of expressionless eyes upon
me, said coldly : " Bon jour, Monsieur." I asked if
he were French, and he replied that he was, having
come from Algeria seven years previously, and now

FEZ. 161

held the rank of captain in the Moroccoan army. As
I was unable to congratulate him I said nothing.

" Cest comme ga" he continued lightly. " I left
Algeria because I did not care to be seen there any
longer. J^etais oblige dc vivre dans un ccrcle trop
etroit. (Perhaps he meant a halter.) The European
manner of life did not suit my temperament ; I felt
that I needed a change of country."
" And you are satisfied here V I asked.
" More than satisfied," said he in an affected tone.
" The country is beautiful, Mulai el Hassan the best
of Sultans, the people are kindly, I am a captain,
have a little shop, conduct a small industry. I hunt,
fish, go off on trips to the mountains, and enjoy the
most absolute liberty. I would not return to Europe,
look you, for all the gold in the world." " You do
not even care to revisit your own land ? Have you
entirely forgotten even France ?" " What is France
to me % As far as I am concerned France no longer
exists ; my country is Morocco ;" and he shrugged his
shoulders. This cynicism revolted me ; indeed I could
could hardly believe that it was altogether genuine,
and felt curious to probe it a little further.

"Since leaving Algeria," I asked, "have you heard
nothing of what has gone on in Europe f " " Pas un
mot^^ he replied. " No one here knows about any-
thing, and for my part I am perfectly satisfied not to
know anything." " Then you have not heard that
there has been a great war between France and Prus-

152 FEZ.

sia ?" He started. " Qui a vaincu P^ he demanded,
with a certain amount of vivacity, and fastening his
eyes upon me. " Prussia," said I. He made a gest-
ure of astonishment. I then briefly recounted to
him the reverses France had met with, the invasion,
capture of Paris, and loss of the two provinces. He
stood listening with lowered head and frowning brow.
Then recovering himself, said roughly : '' Cest egal
— je nai plus de patrie — ga ne me regards pas,''^ and
dropped his head again ; then seeing that I was
watching him, he said suddenly, in an altered voice,
^^ Adieu J Monsieur/^ and walked quickly away.
" Everything is not quite dead in him yet," thought
I, and extracted some comfort out of the fact.
Meanwhile the artillery had ceased firing, the Sultan
had taken his seat in a white pavilion at the foot of
one of the towers, and the soldiers began defiling be-
fore him one by one, without their arms, and about
twenty feet apart. As no ofiicer stood either beside
the Sultan nor facing the pavilion to call out the
names, as is done with us in order to prove the ex-
istence of all the men who figure on the roll (it is
even said that there are no rolls in the Moroccoan
army), I could not see precisely what end was served
by this review other than the entertainment of the
Emperor, and for a moment I felt inclined to laugh,
but only for one moment, for in the next I reaHzed
how much there was that was primitive and
politic in this custom of that young African monarch,

FEZ. 153

High Priest and absolute Prince, simple-minded and
kindly, who three times a week sat there for three
hours under his tent watching his soldiers defile be-
fore him one by one and listening to the prayers and
complaints of his unhappy people, and I was filled
instead with a very profound feeling of respect.
That was the last time I saw him. " Farewell," I
said, as I moved away, with a sensation of real lik-
ing, " Farewell, handsome, noble Prince !" And as
his graceful white figure faded from my eyes
I knew that it was being engraven forever upon my
heart.

June ninth. Last day of the Italian embassy's
visit to Fez. The ambassador's demands have all
been acceded to, Ducali's and Shellal's affairs satis-
factorily arranged, the farewell visits made, Sid
Musa's last dinner endured, the customary gifts been
received from the Sultan. These last consist of a
handsome black horse, with an enormous green-velvet
saddle, trimmed with gold braid, for the ambassador ;
gilded and chased swords for the official members of
the embassy, and a mule for the second dragoman.
The tents and packing-boxes were started off this
morning ; the rooms are dismantled, the mules are
ready, the escort awaits us at the Butter Niche
Gate ; my companions are walking up and down in
the court-yard waiting for the hour of departure,
while I, seated for the last time upon my imperial

154 FEZ.

couch, with my note-book on my knee, jot down my
final impressions of Fez. And what are they?
What is the impression that the sight of this city,
this people, this state of society, has ended by making
on my mind 1 Hardly have I succeeded in penetrat-
ing through the first layer of wonder and gratified
curiosity than I find a mixture of conflicting sensa-
tions that land me in uncertainty. There is a senti-
ment of pity, called forth by the degeneracy, the de-
cadence, the suffering of this nation of warriors and
horsemen, which once made so luminous a mark on
the history of science and art, and now is not so much
as aware of its own departed glory ; a sentiment of
admiration for what still remains to it of strength and
beauty, of dignity, manliness, and grace, as seen in
the mode of dress, customs, ceremonies, all, in short,
that is left of its ancient simplicity, in the sad, silent
life of to-day ; a sentiment of uneasiness at the sight
of such barbarism at so short a distance from civiliza-
tion, since in this same civilization the power to rise
to higher levels seems to be so disproportionate to the
power to expand, if in all these centuries of con-
stantly increasing strength it has never yet succeeded
in advancing two hundred miles in this direction ; a
sentiment of indignation at the thought that civilized
states oppose to the great object of the civilization of
this part of Africa their little private, mercantile in-
terests, and by thus belittling in the eyes of these
people, through the display of their petty rivalries,

iS)utslt)e tbe Malls of 3fe3.

FEZ. 155

both their own authority and the order of things they
wish to introduce, render the common object even
slower and more difficult of accomplishment, and
finally a sentiment of keen pleasure, at the thought
that here in this country as well I have formed in my
mind still another little world, peopled alive, filled
with new characters who will live in my thoughts for
the rest of my life, ready to start into being at my
word, with whom I can associate at will, and re-live
my life in Africa. But this agreeable thought gave
rise to a melancholy one as well, that inevitable re-
flection that throws its shadow across every peaceful
hour, the drop of bitterness in every cup of pleasure
.... the same thought that the Moorish merchant
had expressed when he spoke of the vanity of all the
efforts made by civilized peoples to study, search out,
discover — and this delightful journey seemed like
nothing but the rapid enacting of a beautiful scene in
an hour's play, the play of life — the pencil dropped
from my fingers, and I sat plunged in melancholy
thoughts. . . . Ah, Selam's voice calling me ! It is
time to start then ! Time to return to the life of the
tent, the warlike salutes, the wide, open plains, the
broad light, the cheerful, healthy existence of the
camp. Farewell Fez ! Farewell discomfort ! My
little African world grows rose-colored once more.

MEQUINEZ.

(167)

MEQIIINEZ.

After twenty-four days of city life the caravan
made the same lively impression upon me as when I
saw it for the first time. Not that there was any-
thing new j all was unchanged save that the Moor,
Shellal, now rode beside Mohammed Ducali. His
affairs had, it is true, been amicably adjusted, but he
deemed it wiser to proceed to Tangier under the ambas-
sador's wing rather than remain in Fez under that of
his own Government. In addition to this, an acute
observer might have read in our faces, if he were a
pessimist, a certain expression of regret, or if an op-
timist, of satisfaction, the result of a profoimd convic-
tion, shared by all, that we were leaving behind us in
the illustrious capital of the Empire not one broken-
hearted belle, not a single offended husband, no dis-
tracted family circles, not so much as the hem of a
feminine haih profaned at our hands ; and then, too,
on every face there shone a look of intense delight at
being fairly off on the return trip, on as much of
them, that is to say, as was visible beneath the um-
brellas, veils and handkerchiefs with which nearly all
were endeavoring to protect their heads from the

(159)

160 MEQUINEZ.

burning sun and choking dust. Ah me ! there lay
the real difference. The May sun had changed to
that of June, the thermometer registered 107|^°
(Fahrenheit) when we started, and ahead of us lay
two hundred miles of African soil. This reflection
embittered not a little the satisfaction we would other-
wise have felt at getting away from Fez without
having any cause for remorse. To reach Tangier we
were to proceed first to Mequinez, go from thence to
El Araish, follow the Atlantic coast as far as Azila,
and then turn inland to Ain Daliya, where we had
camped on the first night of the journey. Mequinez
is about fifty kilometres from Fez, and it took us
three days to get there. The country along the route
presented no new features worthy of note, being just
like that through which we had travelled on our way
to the capital ; the same fields of wheat and barley,
in many of which, however, the reapers were now at
work ; the same black duars, the same vast stretches
of open country, covered with lentisks and dwarf
palms ; the same wide views of undulating ground,
rocky hills, the dried beds of small torrents, solitary
palm-trees, white kubbas, an utter peace, and an in-
finite melancholy. Owing, however, to the vicinity
of the two large cities we met more people than we
had even done on the journey from Tangier to Fez.
Caravans of camels, large droves of cattle ; dealers
conducting troops of beautiful horses to the Fez mar-
ket ; saints preaching in the wilderness ; couriers on

MEQUINEZ. 161

foot and mounted; peasants armed with scythes,
going to reap in the fields ; and occasionally a wealthy
Moorish family travelUng up to Fez, with all its ser-
vants and household goods. One of these families,
that of a wealthy Mequinez merchant, whom Ducali
knew, formed in itself a long caravan. First came
two servants armed with muskets, and behind them
the head of the family, a handsome, severe-looking
man, with a black beard and white turban, riding a
richly caparisoned mule. He held the reins and a
child of two or three years, who was on the saddle in
front of him, with one hand, while with the other he
clasped the two hands of a woman, completely veiled
— possibly the favorite wife — who rode behind him
all huddled up into a ball and holding on to him
tightly beneath the armpits, as though trying to suffo-
cate him (perhaps she was terrified at the sight of
us) j other women, their faces hidden as well, rode
after the master, mounted on mules ; armed relatives,
boys, servants, negresses with infants in their arms ;
Arab servants on foot, carrying guns over their
shoulders ; mules and donkeys laden with mattresses,
pillows, cushions, bedclothing, dishes, parcels ; and
finally more foot-servants carrying cages containing
little dogs and parrots. As we went by the women
held their haiks more closely before their faces ; the
merchant did not so much as look at us ; the relatives
glanced uneasily in our direction, and two children
began crying.
Vol. II.— 11

162 MEQUINEZ.

On the third day our attention was distracted from
such sights as these by a most unfortunate occurrence.
Poor Dr. Miguerez was seized at our second halting-
place by a severe attack of sciatica, and was obliged
to make the rest of the journey to Mequinez on a sort
of improvised litter, manufactured out of a hammock
and a couple of tent-poles, and swung from the backs
of two mules. This misfortune threw a gloom over
everyone. The caravan separating into two divis-
ions ; it was a truly depressing spectacle to see, as
we frequently did, that litter come slowly into view
and then as slowly descend from some height in our
rear, surrounded by mounted soldiers, muleteers, ser-
vants, and friends, all of them as grave and silent as
though it were a funeral cortege. From time to time
they would halt and all bend anxiously over the in-
valid, then motion to us, watching from a distance,
that our poor friend was worse. It was, as I say, a
mournful sight, and yet it added a feature both
charming and picturesque to the caravan, making us
look like the escort of some wounded Sultan. The
first day we pitched our camp in the plain of Fez, the
second on the right bank of the river Mduma, about
a five hours' journey from Mequinez, and it was
here that a very pleasant little incident took place.
Towards evening we all walked along the river-bank
to a spot about half a mile from the camp, and near
a large duar, all the inhabitants of which came to
meet us. There was a bridge at this point, built of

MEQUINEZ. 163

masonry, having a single arch, in the Arab style, old,
but except in a few places where it had crumbled a
little, perfectly firm and solid ; alongside of it were
the remains of another bridge, part of which were
built into the steep rocky banks and part lying heaped
up in the river-bed. On the left bank, about fifty
feet from the bridge, lay the ruins of a great wall,
the traces of some foundations, some heaps of stones,
and some blocks of cut stone, apparently once form-
ing part of a building of considerable size. The sur-
rounding country was entirely bare. These were
the remains, it was said, of an Arab city called
Mduma, built upon the ruins of another city ante-
dating the Mussulman invasion. We accordingly set
to work to see if we could possibly discover any in-
dications of Roman construction, but either there
were none, or we failed to identify them, to the mani-
fest delight of the Arabs, who no doubt thought we
were searching, by the aid of our diabolical books, for
some treasure hidden there by the Rumli (Romans),
from whom, according to them, all Christians are
directly descended. Captain di Boccard, however,
as he was recrossing the bridge to return to the camp,
noticed in the river below, on top of a huge rock
almost pyramidal in shape, some small square stones,
upon which certain characters seemed to be engraved,
and the circumstance of their position, as though they
had been placed there to be seen from the bridge
above, strengthened this idea. The captain an-

164 MEQUINEZ.

nounced his intention of going to examine them, and
everyone thereupon tried to dissuade him. The
river-banks were steep, the bed was filled with great
masses of sharp rocks lying at some distance from one
another, the current was extremely rapid, and the
rock upon whose summit the stones lay not only very
high, but very difficult if not impossible of access.
But Captain di Boccard is one of those people who,
when once his mind is set upon a risky undertaking,
considers the matter as settled ; either he gets killed
or he succeeds. We had not yet finished enumerat-
ing our reasons against his going when he had begun
climbing down to the river, almost as he was, even to
his riding-boots and spurs. A hundred or so Arabs
stood watching, some on each bank of the river, and
the rest hanging over the side of the bridge. No
sooner had they taken in where it was that the cap-
tain proposed climbing to than — the undertaking
seeming to them quite desperate — they all began to
laugh, and when he reached the river and paused,
looking all about him for the best way to proceed,
they thought that he was afraid, and raised a derisive
shout.

"None of us," said one of them in a loud tone,
" has ever been able to get up there ; let us see if a
Nazarene is more likely to succeed."

It is quite certain that none of the rest of us Italians
would have done so, but it so happened that the man
who was making the attempt was the most active

MEQUINEZ. 165

member of the embassy. The laughter of the Arabs
gave him his final impetus. He gave a leap, disap-
peared among the busheS; reappeared standing on a
rock, disappeared again, and so went on from stone
to stone, jumping like a cat, sliding, climbing, running
constant risks of falling into the river or breaking his
neck, and finally reached the base of the rock, when,
without so much as waiting to take breath, laying
hold of every little irregularity and indentation on its
surface, he proceeded to climb to the very summit,
where he stood a moment erect as a statue. We
heaved a mighty sigh of relief, the Arabs were trans-
fixed with astonishment, the honor of Italy was safe.
The captain, like a haughty conqueror, did not deign
to bestow so much as a glance upon his vanquished
foes, and only pausing long enough to satisfy himself
that the supposed historical stones were merely some
fragments of cement, which had become detached
from the parapet of the bridge, descended by another
way, and with a few leaps was once more on the bank,
where he was received with triumphant honors.

The journey from Mduma to Mequinez was a series
of such extraordinary optical delusions and disillu-
sions that had it not been for the terrible heat we
should have found it very entertaining. About two
hours, or very little more, after leaving the camp, we
saw far away, in the centre of the great bare plain,
the vague glitter of the white minarets of Mequinez,
and congratulated ourselves on being so nearly there.

166 MEQUINEZ.

But what appeared to be a level plain was in reality
an endless succession of parallel valleys separated
by great billows of earth, rising to equal heights, so
that it looked like an even surface ; thus as we
travelled on the city constantly vanished and reap-
peared, as though it were playing hide-and-seek with
us. Then the valleys were so uneven and rocky that
they could only be traversed by winding and difficult
paths, so that the distance was certainly double what
we had at first supposed it to be, the city seeming to
retire as we advanced. In every valley we took
heart again, only to be plunged in fresh despair on
the next hill-top, and then shrill weary voices would
be heard, and lamentable sighs, and angry determina-
tions never again to undertake a journey in Africa,
whatever the object or conditions. At length though,
by the help of Providence, on issuing from among a
group of wild olives we saw before us the unexpected
sight of the long-wished-for city close at hand. All
the lamentations at once gave way to exclamations
of wonder. Mequinez, extended over a long hill,
framed in gardens, surrounded by three lines of great
battlemented walls, crowned with minarets and palm-
trees, as gay and imposing as a suburb of Constanti-
nople, lay spread out before us, her thousand white
terraces outlined against the blue sky. Not a single
cloud of smoke issued from that multitude of houses,
not a living soul was to be seen either on the ter-
races or outside the walls, not the faintest sound

MEQUINEZ. 167

broke the stillness ; it was like an abandoned city or
some scene on the stage.

The mess-tent was pitched at once in the centre of
a barren field, and about two hundred feet from one
of the fifteen gates of the town, and before many
minutes had elapsed we were all seated at table for
the purpose of satisfying what the writers of elegant
prose would call " il naturale talento di ciho e di be-
vanday Hardly had we taken our places when a
party of horsemen, magnificently attired, and pre-
ceded by a troop of soldiers on foot, issued from the
gate and advanced towards the camp. It was the
Governor of Mequinez, accompanied by his relatives
and officers. Dismounting from their steeds — whose
trappings were of every color of the rainbow — at
about twenty feet from the tent, they rushed towards
us, crying in chorus, " Welcome ! Welcome ! Wel-
come !" The Governor was a young man with a
sweet expression, black eyes, and a very black beard.
The others were all tall, bearded men, between forty
and fifty years of age, dressed in white, and as spruce
and perfumed as though they were just out of a band-
box. They shook everyone by the hand, all circling
about the table as though they were going through a
quadrille figure, and smiling with great afi"ability;
then they placed themselves in a group behind the
Governor. One of them though, observing a piece
of bread lying on the ground, picked it up and placed
it on the table, at the same time saying something

168 MEQUINEZ.

which no doubt signified " Excuse me, but the Koran
forbids the waste of bread, I am but performing my
duty as a good MussiJman." The Governor now
offered to everyone the hospitality of his house,
which was generally accepted, only the two painters
and I remained in the camp, waiting until the heat
should abate sufficiently for us to visit the town.

Selam kept us company, enlarging meanwhile upon
the wonders of Mequinez.

" In Mequinez there are the most beautiful women
in Morocco, and the most beautiful gardens in Africa,
and its royal palace is the most beautiful in the world."
That was how he began, and as a matter of fact that
is the reputation of Mequinez throughout the Empire;
there, woman is synonymous with beauty, and man
with jealousy. The imperial palace was built by
Mulai Ismael, where, in 1703, he kept four thousand
women and eight hundred and sixty-seven children ;
it was two miles around, and was ornamented with
marble columns, some of them brought hither from
the ruins of Faraun, not far from Mequinez, and the
rest from Leghorn and Marseilles. There was a great
alcazar where the most costly fabrics of Europe were
exposed for sale, a vast market connected with the
city by a street on which stood a hundred fountains,
a park filled with enormous olives, seven great
mosques, a formidable garrison of artillerymen, who
kept the Berbers of the neighboring mountains in
check, an imperial treasury containing five himdred

B Hearo ot lUlococco,

MEQUINEZ. 169

million francs, and a population of fifty thousand in-
habitants, who were considered the most courteous
and hospitable people of the Empire.

Selam gave us, in a low voice and with mysterious
gestures, an exact description of the spot where the
treasure is still kept. No one knows what it amounts
to, but of course it must have diminished consider-
ably at the time of the last wars, if indeed enough
remains to entitle it to the name of treasure.
" Within the Sultan's palace," said he, " there is
another palace, built entirely of stone, lighted only
from above, and surrounded by three walls. Enter-
ing by an iron door, you presently come to another
iron door, and then to still a third ; after these three
doors comes a low, dark passage-way, through which
you have to carry lights j the pavement is of black
marble, the walls are black, the roof is black, and the
air smells like that of a tomb. At the end of the
passage-way is a large room, and in the middle of the
room an opening that lets down into a deep subter-
ranean apartment ; here four times a year three him-
dred negroes are employed in shovelling in with
spades the gold and silver coins sent thither by the
Sultan, who overlooks them himself. The negroes
who work in this room are confined for life in the
palace, while those employed in the subterranean
apartment never come out of it alive. The ten
earthenware vases which stand around the room con-
tain the heads of ten negroes who once made an at-

170 MEQUINEZ.

tempt to steal ; Mulai Suleiman had their heads cut
off just as soon as all the money was safely stowed
away, and not one man has ever come alive out of
that palace except the Sultan, our lord."

He recounted these atrocities without evincing any
sign of indignation ; it was more as though he took a
certain pride in them, and was speaking of super-
human matters about which a man had no right to
pass judgment or to regard with any feeling other
than one of mysterious reverence.

" There was once a certain King of Mequinez,"
continued he, with the same immovable gravity,
standing erect before our tent, with one hand resting
on the hilt of his sword, " who wished to make a road
from Mequinez to Morocco, flanked by great walls so
that even the blind could go from one city to the other
without being guided. Now this King, who was both
cruel and obstinate, owned a ring by the power of
which he could assume power over all the demons ;
he accordingly summoned them and made them work
on his road. There were thousands and thousands
of them, and they could all lift stones that a hundred
men were unable to move as far as the length of your
finger. All the demons who refused to work were
built into the wall alive, by the King's orders, and
you can see their bones for yourself. (It is true that
bones are to be found there, but they are the bones
of Christian slaves, and may be seen in the walls of
Sallee and Rabat as well.) Both walls of the road

MEQUINEZ. . 171

had been built as far as a day's journey, and every-
one was rejoicing to think how soon the work would
be finished 5 but the King displeased Allah, so that
he was not willing that that road should ever be com-
pleted. One day, as he was riding along on his horse,
a poor country-woman stopped him and said, ' Where
do you expect this road to lead to, oh rash King V
* To the infernal regions,' answered the King,
angrily. ^ Then go there yourself,' cried the old
woman, and at these words the King dropped from
his horse dead, the walls crumbled to pieces, the
demons scattered the stones over all the neighboring
country, and the road remains unfinished to this
day."

" And do you really believe all this, Selam ?" I
inquired.

" Why, certainly," he answered, surprised at my
implied doubt.

'• And do you believe in demons ?"

^' Why, of course I believe in them. Are we to
suppose that there is any reason why people should
not believe in them ?"

" But have you ever seen any ?"

" No, never, and that is why I do not think there
are any left in the world now ; and when I hear any-
one say, ' Be careful how you go by such a place after
nightfall, there are demons there,' I go right to that
place, and am the first to go by it, because I know
those demons are just men, and with a good horse

172 MEQUINEZ.

under me, and a good gun in my hands, I am not
afraid of anyone."

" And how does it happen, in your opinion, that
there are none now if there once were demons in the
world f '

" Oh, well," said he, beginning to move off, " it is
just because the world is different in many ways from
what it used to be. I might ask you, for instance,
why it is that the men are not so tall now as formerly,
nor the days so long, and why the animals have
stopped talking." And he walked off, shaking his
head with an air of compassion.

As the ambassador dined in the city on that day
Selam and the others did nothing but gallop back and
forth between the gate and the camp, to the great
amusement of the two artists and myself, who were
more struck on that occasion than ever by the absurd
contrast between their dignified and imposing appear-
ance and the lowliness of their office. Here, for ex-
ample, comes the servant Hamed bestriding a great
black charger, who, issuing forth from the battle-
mented gate of Mequinez on a gallop, dashes across
the open space at full speed. His high turban, struck
by the sun's rays, shines like snow, his great light-
blue cloak flutters in the breeze like a regal mantle,
his dagger gleams, his graceful manly form breathes
the dignity of a prince combined with the hardiness
of a warrior. How many vague, romantic dreams
are aroused by the sight of that picturesque Mussul-

MEQUINEZ. 178

man cavalier flying like a phantom beneath the walls
of a mediaeval city ! Whither is he bound ? To
abduct the most beautiful of the Pasha of Faraun's
daughters ? To challenge the valiant Kaid of Wazan,
who is betrothed to his sweetheart ? To confide his
troubles to the breast of the secular saint, who has
been praying for eighty years on the summit of Mount
Zarhun, in the sacred zauia of Mulai Edris ? No,
none of these. He is merely on his way to the camp
to procure some fried potatoes for the ambassador's
dinner.

Towards sunset the artists and I set out for the
town, mounted on mules and accompanied by four of
the foot-soldiers belonging to the Governor of Me-
quinez, who had first exchanged their muskets for
sticks and knotted cords. Before starting, however,
we made an agreement with them, through the inter-
preter Hamed, that when we should all three clap our
hands at the same time, it would mean that they were
to conduct us back to the camp by the shortest road,
and as quickly as possible.

After passing through two outer gates — a steep
hill leading from one to the other — we found our-
selves in the heart of the town. Our first impres-
sion was one of pleased surprise. We had expected
to find Mequinez more dreary, if anything, than Fez,
instead of which it turned out to be a cheerful place,
with plenty of foliage ; its many streets, winding to
be sure, but wide and flanked by low houses and

174 MEQUINEZ.

garden walls, above which could be seen the summits
of the beautiful hills surrounding the city ; in every
direction glimpses could be caught of here a minaret,
there a palm-tree or a battlemented wall ; at every
step we came to a fountain or an arabesqued door-
way, oaks and leafy fig-trees grew in the middle of
the streets and squares, and there was an all-pervad-
ing airiness and lightness, a breath of sweet country
smells, and a certain charming peacefulness befitting
a royal city which, though decayed it may be, is not
altogether dead. After many turnings and twistings
we came out upon the vast open square on which the
great palace of the Governor stands, gorgeous with ex-
quisite enameled mosaics of a hundred different colors.
Just at that moment the rays of the setting sun fell
full upon it, causing it to glitter like one of those
palaces, studded with pearls, that figure in legends of
the East. The soldiers were going through the
" powder play," and about fifty servants and guards
were seated on the ground before the entrance; the
rest of the square was deserted. The glowing fa9ade,
the horsemen, the towers, the solitude, the sunset, all
combined to^ form a picture so typically Moorish, to
breathe a spirit so entirely of the past, to suggest in
one brief glance so much history, poetry, and ro-
mance, that for a few moments we all three stood trans-
fixed with admiration. From thence the soldiers
took us to see a large outer gate of noble design, and
covered from the base of the walls to the top with

MEQUINEZ. 175

delicate, many-colored mosaics, which gleamed like
so many rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, set in a tri-
umphal arch of ivory. The two painters made rapid
sketches of it in their note-books, and we retraced
our way to the town. Up to now the people whom
we had met in the streets had exhibited no feeling
other than curiosity ; it had even seemed as though
they regarded us with a more favorable eye than the
inhabitants of Fez. But now all at once, and with-
out a shadow of reason, their humor changed. First
some old women cast sidelong glances at us ; then two
or three boys began throwing stones between our
mules' legs ; then one troop of ragamuffins ran before
and another behind us, kicking up a diabolical racket.
The soldiers of course did not hesitate to respond to
these amenities in kind. Two kept in front and two
behind us, and soon it was a pitched battle between
them and the rabble ; they struck those close at hand,
threw stones at those farther off, and even chased the
bolder spirits some distance. But it was wasted
energy. Not daring to answer back with stones, the
crowd began pelting us with bruised oranges, lemon-
peel, and dried manure, and the rain soon became so
thick that we thought it prudent to advise the soldiers
to desist from all further offensive warfare in order
not to provoke anything more serious ; but these, by
this time thoroughly exasperated, either did not hear
us or pretended not to, and continued to fight with
ever increasing fury. Unable to wreak their ven-

176 MEQUINEZ.

geance on the boys, they took it out on the men.
Every paunch caught protruding from a doorway got
a crack of the whip by way of warning ; every poor
devil who failed to flatten himself against the wall to
let us pass, a push that sent him flying ten feet back-
wards ; every old woman who cast a surly look at us,
a fist shaken in her face and a rude voice in her ear.
Indignant at these brutalities we signed energetically
to them to desist, but the rascals, thinking that we
were reproaching them for lack of zeal, only pro-
ceeded to lay about them more roughly than ever.
To crown all, two youths of ten or twelve suddenly
appeared from I do not know where — possibly they
were relatives of the soldiers — armed with sticks, and
joining the escort as volunteers at once began to deal
out such vigorous and impartial blows on men, women,
donkeys, mules, far and near alike, that even the
soldiers were obliged to counsel moderation. At
every stroke they would both turn and look at us, as
though suggesting that it should be especially remem-
bered in the fee, and as we had unfortunately gotten
into a state of uncontrollable laughter they naturaUy
took our mirth as a sign of encouragement, and banged
away like creatures possessed. " What will happen
now ?" we said to one another. " An uprising ? A
riot ?" Already the maltreated ones were beginning
to mutter ominously ; one or two had struck back at
the boys. It was high time for us to get out of the
city as quickly as possible. Biseo, however, still

MEQUINEZ. 177

hesitated ; but just then, as we were crossing a square
tilled with people, a stone struck my mule square on
the head, while a carrot took Ussi in the back of the
neck. This decided us, and we at once clapped our
hands, that being the signal agreed upon for beating
a retreat ; but even this innocent action caused fresh
tumult. The soldiers, to show that they had under-
stood, clapped theirs in return, and thereupon all the
people in the square, intending probably to mock us,
began clapping theirs as well, and all the while the
showers of lemon-peel, curses, and blows kept up
bravely, and continued until we were close to the
gates ; even when we were well outside and going
towards the camp choruses of pleasantries were still
hurled at us from the tops of the walls. " Cursed be
your fathers !" "May your race die out!" "May
Allah roast your great-grandmothers !" Such was
the reception accorded us in the city of Mequinez ;
and certainly if, as is said, it is the most hospitable
city in the Empire, we were lucky to be there and no-
where else. On the following morning a litter was
brought to the camp for the doctor's use. It had
been constructed in twenty -four hours by the most
clever artisans of Mequinez, who would no doubt have
consumed more than twenty-four days on the job had
not the Governor put the matter to them accompanied
by certain hints that it would hardly have been pru-
dent to disregard. It was a heavy, cumbersome affair,
looking more like a cage for the transportation of
Vol. II.— 12

178 MEQUINEZ.

wild beasts than a litter for a sick man, and yet a
good deal better than anything we had hoped for.
As the men gave the finishing touches under our di-
rection, they were so proud of their work and so con-
fident of our admiration that they fairly trembled
with emotion, flashing quick glances at us every time
we opened our lips. When Morteo finally put the
money in their hands they thanked him with dignity,
and walked off smiling triumphantly, as who should
say, "Haughty ignorant ones, we have shown you
what manner of men we are !"

Towards sunset we left Mequinez, and for two
hours travelled across the most beautiful country ever
dreamed of by an enraptured landscape painter. I
can behold it still, and still I seem to feel the divine
beauty of those green hills sprinkled with rose-trees,
myrtles, oleanders, and flowering aloes ; the gorgeous
beauty of the city of Mequinez, gilded by the sun, as
it gradually withdrew from our gaze, minaret by
minaret, palm by palm, terrace by terrace, and the
smaller it became the higher it seemed to lie, as
though it were climbing up the hiUside ; and the per-
fume-laden breeze that ruffled the surface of the
water, in which were reflected all the varying colors
of the escort, and the dreamy infinitude of that rose-
tinted sky. I can see it, feel it all still, and yet I
cannot describe it, but sit helplessly gnawing my
finger.

panorama ot fHlequines*

OJSr THE SEBU.

(179)

ON THE SEBU.

It was noon of the fifth day since leaving Fez,
when, after a five hours' ride across a succession of
barren valleys, we once more passed through the
Beb-el-Tinca gorge, and again beheld, stretching away
before us, the vast plain of the Sebu, flooded with
white, glaring, blazing sunlight, the mere memory of
which sends the blood rushing to my head. Every-
one except the ambassador and the captain, both of
whom seemed to share the supposed nature of the
salamander, covered his head like a brother of the
Misericordia, carefully enveloped himself in a cloak
or cape, and without uttering a word, his chin rest-
ing on his breast and with eyes half-closed, descended
into that terrible plain, trusting only to the mercy of
Heaven. At a certain point the voice of the com-
mander was heard breaking the silence. " One horse
dead," said he ; and sure enough, one of the baggage-
horses had dropped. No one made any reply. " You
know," added the commander with some irritation,
"the horses always die firsts This speech as well
was received in utter silence. Half an hour later a
faint voice was heard asking Ussi to whom he had

(181)

182 ON THE SEBU.

left his picture of Bianca Capello. During the entire
ride not another word was spoken. Even the sol-
diers of the escort did not talk, while the Kaid Hamed
Ben Kasen actually had perspiration roUing down his
face, notwithstanding the huge turban that shaded
him. Poor general ! That very morning he had
rendered me assistance in a way that I shall remem-
ber for the rest of my life ; seeing that I kept falling
behind, he came alongside of me and fell to whacking
my mule with such vicious zeal that in a few moments
I pranced gayly by all my companions and tore off
at a gallop, bounding in my saddle like an india-rub-
ber figure, and arrived in camp full five minutes
ahead of any of the others, with my insides in com-
motion and my heart full of gratitude. No one
stirred out of his tent that day until dinner-time, and
the meal itself was as silent as though we already felt
the depressing effect of the morrow's heat. A single
incident that occurred towards the end succeeded in
causing a little stir in the camp. We had reached
the fruit, when we heard a mournful cry proceeding
from the direction of the escort camp, accompanied
by a noise which gradually grew louder and sounded
like some one being flogged. Thinking that it was
only some sport of the soldiers or servants we paid
no attention, but all at once the cries grew shrill, and
we could distinctly hear a voice uttering in tones of
supplication the name of the founder of Fez, "Mulai
Edris !" " Mulai Edris !" Leaving the table, we all

ON THE SEBU. 183

hastened to the spot from whence the sounds came,
and there we witnessed a painftd sight. Two soldiers
of the escort held an Arab servant suspended between
them, one grasping him by the shoidders and the other
by the feet, a third was flogging him severely with a
whip, a fourth held the lantern, and the others stood
in a circle looking on. Hard by stood the Kaid, with
arms folded across his breast. The ambassador at once
ordered the prisoner to be released, and as he hur-
ried away, still sobbing, asked the Kaid what had
happened. " Nothing, nothing," he said, " merely a
trifling occurrence," and then explained that he had
been obliged to punish the man for throwing balls of
kuskussu at his companions — a rather serious misde-
meanor, and for a Mussulman sacrilegious as well,
as every kind of food the earth produces should be
looked upon as the direct gift of God, and respected
accordingly. As he spoke the Kaid, who at heart
was the kindest of men, could not conceal, try as he
might to appear indiiferent, the real pain it had caused
him to have to inflict such a punishment and his pity
for tlie victim, a fact that restored him to his place in
my heart. During the night we were aroused by a
hot east wind that drove us from our beds in search
of a mouthful of air fit to breathe. At daybreak we
resumed our journey in a close atmosphere that gave
promise of a still warmer day than the one before.
The heavens were covered with clouds, tinged with
red in one direction by the rising sun, which broke

184 ON THE SEBU.

through at some points in dazzHng rays ; on the op-
posite side it was black and streaked with oblique
lines of rain ; and from this threatening sky there
came a strange unearthly light, as though it shone
first through a roof of yellow glass, throwing over
that vast stubble-covered plain an angry sulphurous
glare that almost hurt our eyes. In the distance we
could see the wind raising great clouds of dust and
whirling it around in furious gusts. The country was
deserted, the air heavy and oppressive, the horizon
hidden behind a lead-colored veil of vapor. Without
ever having seen Sahara I fancied that at times it must
present just such an appearance, and was about to
express this thought aloud when Ussi, who has been
to Egypt, suddenly stopped short and exclaimed in a
voice of wonder, " Why, there is the desert !"

After a four hours' ride we reached the banks of
the Sebu, Avhere twenty Beni Hassan cavaUers awaited
us, commanded by a handsome boy of twelve, son of
the Governor Sid- Abd- Alia. The party advanced to
meet us with the usual shouts and firing of muskets,
and the camp was pitched with all speed close to the
river on a piece of bare ground broken by deep fis-
sures. As soon as luncheon was over everyone with-
drew to his tent to get through as best he might what
proved to be the hottest day of the trip. I shall
endeavor to give some faint idea of our sufferings, so
let my kindly readers prepare their hearts for senti-
ments of the profoundest pity, while I, wiping the

ON THE SEBU. 185

perspiration from my brow, begin : At ten o'clock in
the morning, when my two companions and I retired
to our tent, the thermometer marked 107f ° (Fah-
renheit) in the shade. For about an hour an ani-
mated conversation was kept up. At the end of that
time, finding a certain difficulty in rounding off our
periods, we confined ourselves to simple statements
of facts ; then concluding that it was too fatiguing to
put verb, subject, and attribute together, we stopped
talking entirely and tried to go to sleep, but it was a
useless attempt. The heat of the beds, the flies,
thirst, suffbcation, all combined to keep us from clos-
ing our eyes. After fuming and tossing for some
time we resigned ourselves to staying awake, and
tried to find some way of occupying ourselves, but
there was none ; cigars, pipes, books, maps, every-
thing fell from our hands. I attempted to write, but
at the third line the whole page was damp with the
perspiration that was running off my forehead like
water from a wet sponge. I could feel little rivulets
all over me, which intersected and emptied into one
another, forming rivers and cascades, and then ran
down my arms and hands until they almost washed
the ink oiF the end of my pen. In a few minutes
handkerchiefs, towels, veils, everything we could lay
our hands on were drenched as though they had been
dipped in a pail of water. We tried to drink out of
the cask, but the water was boiling, so we emptied it
out ; hardly had it touched the groimd when all trace

186 ON THE SEBU.

of it vanished. At noon the thermometer was 112pjj^°.
The tent was an oven, every object we touched seemed
to burn us. I laid my hand on my head and felt as
though I had placed it on a stove. The beds scorched
our backs so that we could not lie on them ; once I
tried putting my hand on the ground outside the tent ;
it was red-hot. Everyone had ceased talking, but
from time to time some feeble voice would be heard
to ejaculate, " This is death," or " No one can stand
this much longer," or " We will all go mad." Ussi
appeared for an instant at the door of our tent with
his eyes starting out of his head, and murmuring in a
choked voice " I am dying," vanished. Diana, poor
little creature, lay extended beside the commander's
bed panting in such a manner that we feared that
every moment would be her last. Without the tents
not a voice could be heard, no one was to be seen,
everything was as motionless as though the camp had
been abandoned. The horses neighed in the most
lamentable manner, the doctor's litter, which had been
placed near our tent, creaked and groaned as though
it were splitting apart. Once Selam's voice was
heard as he ran by calling out, " Se ha muerto un
perro .'" (A dog is dead.) " That makes one" came
back in faint tones from the commander, facetious
to the last. At one o'clock the thermometer had
reached 115y^°, and after that even the voice of
lamentation was hushed. The commander, the vice-
consul, and I lay prone upon the ground like so many

ON THE SEBU. 187

dead bodies ; throughout the entire camp the captain
and the ambassador were probably the only two
Christians who still gave signs of life. I do not re-
collect how long I remained in that condition, I was
plunged in a sort of stupor, and lay in a kind of wak-
ing dream. All manner of confused images surged
through my brain — visions of cool spots and frozen
objects. I was diving off some high cliff into a lake;
holding my neck under the mouth of a pump j build-
ing a house of solid ice ; devouring in the space of
ten minutes all the ices in Naples ; and the more I
in fancy paddled in cool, watery depths and swallowed
frozen things the more conscious I became of dying
of heat, thirst, madness, exhaustion. At length the
captain was heard announcing, in funereal tones,
" 116f °." That was the last utterance I remember

to have heard

Towards evening the little son of the Governor
of the Beni Hassans whom we had seen in the morn-
ing came to call upon the ambassador in place of his
father, who was ill. He entered the camp on horse-
back, accompanied by an officer and two soldiers.
The latter lifted him to the ground in their arms, and
he advanced towards the ambassador's tent with
measured tread, wearing his long light-blue cape as
though it had been a coat of mail, his left hand rest-
ing upon the hilt of a sword longer than he was him-
self, and the right extended in greeting. In the
morning when we had seen him on his horse he had

188 ON THE SEBU.

appeared to be a good-looking youth enough, and in-
deed he had a pair of handsome, thoughtful eyes, set
in a pale oval face ; but on foot we perceived that he
was twisted and deformed, a fact that may have ac-
counted for his fixed melancholy. Throughout the
entire visit not a single smile illumined his face, nor
did his expression become more cheerful. He re-
garded us searchingly, one after another, and replied
to the ambassador's questions in low, brief tones.
Once only did a faint ray of pleasure gleam in his
eyes, when the ambassador spoke of having noted
with admiration his bold, graceful horsemanship in
the morning, but even that was only a passing ray.
Notwithstanding the fact that we all sat around look-
ing at him, and that this was probably his first ap-
pearance before a European ambassador in an official
capacity, he did not betray the slightest shadow of
embarrassment, sipped his tea slowly, eat a few
sweetmeats, talked aside to his officer, adjusted his
little turban two or three times, examined our shoes
attentively, let it appear that he was growing tired,
and then took his leave, pressing the ambassador's
hand to his breast, and turning towards his horse with
the same bearing of a dignified Sultan that he had
worn when he approached ; helped into the saddle by
his soldiers' aid, he said once more, " Peace be with
you," and departed at a gallop, followed by his little
be-cloaked staff".

That same evening some sick people came in search

"ftabple Wlloman.

ON THE SEBU. 189

of the doctor, who, accompanied by the dragoman,
Salomon, and a small band of soldiers, had started not
long before by the Alcazar road for Tangier. Among
others there was a wretched-looking youth, half-
naked and emaciated, whose dull eyes seemed hardly
to see us, and apparently worn out with fatigue.

" What do you want V asked Morteo.

" I want to see the Christian doctor," he replied in
a trembling voice.

On hearing that he was too late he stood for a mo-
ment as though stupefied, and then cried out in a tone
of absolute desperation :

" But can I not see him at all ? I have come eight
miles to get myself cured by the Christian doctor !
I must see the Christian doctor !" and thereupon he
burst into most heart-rending sobs. Morteo put some
money in his hand, which he accepted with indiffer-
ence, and then pointing out the road taken by the
doctor told him that if he walked quickly he might
still be able to overtake him. The youth hesitated
a few moments, gazing with tearful eyes in the direc-
tion indicated, and then slowly set forth.

That evening the sun went down beyond an im-
mense pavilion of golden and flame-colored clouds, and
shooting its last blood-colored rays athwart the plain
dropped below the unbroken line of the horizon like
an enormous fiery ball plunging into the bowels of
the earth. The night was cold !

By sunrise of the following day we had already

190 ON THE SEBU.

reached the same spot on the left bank of the Sebu
where we had crossed on our way from Tangier, and
no sooner had we arrived than the charming Gov-
ernor Sid Bekr-el-Habassi appeared on the oppo-
site bank, accompanied by his officers and men, wear-
ing the same white cloak, and mounted upon the
same black charger, with sky-blue trappings, as when
we first met him. But this time the passage of the
river presented an unlooked-for difficulty. Of the
two boats in which we should have crossed, one had
gone completely to pieces, and the other was broken
in several places and half under water, while the little
duar, formerly inhabited by the boatmen and their
families, was deserted. The river could not be forded
without great risk, and the nearest available boats
were at least a day's journey distant from that spot.
What was to be done ! How could we get across !
A soldier swam the river and carried word of the
situation to the Governor, who on his part dispatched
another soldier to bring us the explanation. The
boatmen, it seemed, had been duly notified on the
preceding day to hold themselves in readiness to trans-
port the embassy across on the following morning, that
being the time when we were expected, but finding
that owing to their own negligence the boats were re-
duced to such a condition as to be quite useless, and
being themselves either unable or unwilling to mend
them, they had quietly decamped in the night to
Heaven knows where, taking their families and stock

ON THE SEBU. 191

with them, in order to escape the Governor's wrath.
There was then nothing for it but to patch up the
least injured of the two boats as best we might, and
that was what was done. The soldiers ran hither and
thither collecting men from the neighboring duarSj
and presently the work was begun under the lordly
supervision of Luigi, the caulker, who on that, for
him, memorable occasion, gloriously sustained the
honor of the Italian navy. It was amusing to watch
the Arabs and Moors at work. Ten of them, all gestic-
ulating and shouting in chorus, at the end of half an
hour had not accomplished as much as Luigi and
Ranni in five minutes passed in military silence.
They all issued orders, all criticised, all waxed angry,
all assumed airs of command, motioning to and direct-
ing one another imperiously, like so many admirals,
at the very least, and not one of them made the hole
any smaller. The Governor and the Kaid meanwhile
shouted to one another across the water ; the horse-
men of both escorts galloped up and down the banks
examining the horizon in search of the fugitives ; the
beasts of burden stood on the shore in a long line,
half up to their necks in water ; the workmen chanted
the praises of the Prophet ; and on the opposite shore
a great sky-blue tent arose, beneath which Sid Bekr-
el-Habassi's servants hastened to prepare for our de-
lectation a delicious repast, composed of figs, sweet-
meats, and tea, which we got a foretaste of through
our glasses, humming meanwhile snatches from a

192 ON THE SEBU.

serio-comic opera, composed during the dull hours at
Fez, and called " The Italians in Morocco."

By the help of the Prophet the boat was patched
up in a couple of hours. Ranni took each one of us
on his shoulders in turn and deposited us in the bow,
and we reached the opposite shore, up to our ankles,
it is true, in water, but without having to swim for it,
an inestimable piece of good fortune, which we were
very far from counting upon at first.

Governor Sid Bekr-el-Habassi had heard of how
the ambassador had sounded his praises to the Sultan,
and was consequently even more kind and engaging
than on the former occasion. After resting a little
while we continued our journey in the direction of
Kariya-el-Habassi, which we reached at about twelve
o'clock, and passed the hot hours of the afternoon in
the same small, white apartment where just thirty-
five days previously we had seen our host's pretty
little daughter peeping out at us from behind the
paternal turban. On this occasion Sid Bekr-el-Ha-
bassi presented to the ambassador among other per-
sonages a Moor of about fifty, of stately bearing and
pleasing address, who I do not suppose one of us has
ever forgotten, not so much on his own account as
because of the strange things we were told of his
family. He was a brother of one Sid-Bomedi, former
Governor of the Province of Ducalla, who for eight
years had languished in a Fez prison. Tyrannical
and recklessly extravagant, he had bled his people to

ON THE SEBU. 193

the utmost, obtained ruinous loans from European
brokers, contracted debt on debt, and raised the devil
generally among his family and friends, and was
finally arrested and carried off to Fez by the Sultan's
orders, who, believing him to have treasure stowed
away somewhere, had caused his house to be pulled
down, the ruins searched, the foundations dug up, and
his entire family forbidden the province under pain
of death, for fear that some of them might know
where the money was hidden and secretly remove it.
But as nothing was found — possibly because there
was nothing to find — the Sultan persisted in his be-
lief that treasure was hidden somewhere and that the
prisoner could tell if he would. The latter had not
yet been allowed to see the light of day, and was
probably doomed to die in confinement. The case of
Sid-Bomedi is by no means an uncommon one among
the Governors of Morocco, who, some more and some
less, all enrich themselves at the expense of their
people, and furnish a never-failing excuse to the
Government, ever on the lookout to get possession of
their property, to do so under the pretence of punish-
ing a culprit. The Governor or Pasha upon whom
the Sultan has fixed his eye is summoned to Fez or
Morocco in a friendly manner, or else is suddenly ar-
rested in the dead of night by a band of imperial
soldiers, and conducted to the capital by forced
marches, tied to a mule, on his back, with his head
hanging down and his face exposed to the sun. On
Vol. II.— 13

194 ON THE SEBU.

his arrival he is loaded with chains and thrown into a
dungeon. If he tells where his money is hidden he
is released and sent back in honor to his province,
where in a short time, and by means of still more op-
pressive measures, he is able to reimburse himself 5
but if he refuse to reveal the secret he is left to lan-
guish in his living sepulchre, and is flogged every
day in addition, till the blood flows. Again, if he
only tells where part of his fortune is secreted he is
beaten all the same until the whole truth is known.
Sometimes a Governor, more acute than the others,
scents the threatened catastrophe beforehand, and
averts it by going voluntarily to court, accompanied
by a long caravan of mules and camels, laden with
costly gifts ; but as it takes most of his fortune to pro-
vide these off'erings the results are no less disastrous for
the people of his province than they are for those whose
Governor returns from prison, having been forcibly
stripped of his possessions. It sometimes happens
that the prisoner dies under the rod or from confine-
ment, without having revealed the secret, and then
when a favorable opportunity arrives some member
of his family gets possession of the treasure ; and
others again die without revealing anything, simply
because they have no treasure 5 but such cases are
rare, it being a general custom in Morocco for every-
one to hide what money he can, and the Moors are
known to be marvellously clever at the art of con-
cealment. Stories are told of treasures buried be-

ON THE SEBU. 195

neath the door-steps of houses, under the pilasters of
the court-yards, the stairs, the windows ; of dwellings
being pulled down to the very foundation, stone by
stone, without the treasure being discovered, which,
however, was there all the time ; of slaves who were
killed and secretly buried after having helped their
masters to hide their money ; and the common people
mix up these horrible and melancholy tales of things
which have actually occurred with their charming
legends of miracles and spirits.

Governor el-Habassi returned with us towards
evening to the camp, which had been pitched in a
meadow filled with flowers and tortoises, about two
hours' ride from his house, and midway between the
river Meda, Avhich a little further on splits up into a
number of small streams, and a charming hill, sur-
mounted by a saint's tomb with a green dome. About
a gunshot from our tents was a large duar, sur-
rounded by aloes and Indian fig-trees. As we passed
by the entire population streamed out, and we had an
opportunity to see for ourselves the affection in which
the Governor is held by his people. Infirm old men
and women, troops of children, middle-aged persons,
youths, one and all came running up for him to lay
his hand on their heads, and then went back quite
satisfied, turning around to gaze at him with an ex-
pression of love and gratitude. The presence of the
adored Governor did not, however, serve to avert from
us any of the customary black looks and imprecations

196 ON THE SEBU.

Women half-hidden behind a hedge would push
forward one child with their right hands for the Gov-
ernor's blessing, and another with the left to tell us
that we were dogs. Little creatures about two feet
high, barely able to stand, would come toddling to-
w^ards us, entirely naked, and shaking their tiny fists,
about the size of a walnut, at us, would cry out,
" May your father be accursed !" As they were
afraid to face us alone, they would assemble in parties
of seven or eight, all crowding close together in
a group that could have been stood on a good-sized
tray, and advancing with a threatening air to within
about ten feet of our mules, where they would stammer
out their small impertinences. How we laughed ! One
party approached Biseo to express the hope that some
of his relatives — I have forgotten just which — might
be roasted. Biseo took out his pencil, and the two
front ones, jumping suddenly backwards in their
fright, upset the rest, and half the regiment were
bowled heels over head. Even the Governor burst
out laughing.

AZILA.

(197)

AZILA.

After the continuous sight of great decaying cities,
a decUning population, and a country beautiful, it is
true, but mournful in the extreme, after slumber, old
age, ruin, to be suddenly confronted by ceaseless
activity, immortal youth, air that rejuvenates the
blood, beauty that rejoices the heart, a boundless
immensity in which the soul expands — the ocean !
With what tremors of delight did we greet it ! The
unexpected appearance of a friend or brother would
not have aroused greater enthusiasm than did the
sight of that distant, shimmering arc, which seemed
to sweep away like some huge scythe, Islamism,
slavery, ignorance, and bear our thoughts direct and
unimpeded back to Italy. ^' Bahr-el-Kibir !" (the
great sea) exclaimed some of the soldiers, while others
murmured, ^' Bahr-ed-DJiolma ! " (The sea of shadows.)
Every one involuntarily quickened his pace ; conver-
sation which had languished revived again ; the ser-
vants began chanting sacred songs j in the course of
a few moments the entire caravan had taken on an
air of gayety and rejoicing.

On the evening of the 19th of June we encamped

(199)

200 AZILA.

but a three hours' ride from El Araish, and on the fol-
lowing morning entered the city. The Governor's
son received us at the gate, attended by twenty un-
armed and bare-foot soldiers, standing in line in the
street, a hundred or so ragged boys, and a band con-
sisting of a drummer and a trumpeter, who shortly
afterwards came to earn a gratuity by treating us to
an ear-splitting concert in the court-yard of the
Italian consular agency.

On a coast strewn with such decayed cities as
Sallee, Azamoor, Safior, and Santa Cruz, El Araish,
by virtue of such small commercial activity as she is
still able to boast of, is reckoned as one of the prin-
cipal ports of Morocco. Founded in the fifteenth cen-
tury by a Berber tribe, fortified towards the end of
the same century by Mulai-ben-Nassar, surrendered
to Spain in 1610, retaken by Mulai Ismael in 1689,
still a flourishing place in the beginning of this cen-
tury, and inhabited to-day by about four thousand
persons, both Moors and Jews included, such briefly
is the outline of her history. The town stands on
the side of a hiU to the left of the mouth of the river
Kus — the Lixus of the Romans — which forms a capa-
cious and safe harbor, rendered useless, however, for
large ships by the sand-bar that lies nearly across the
entrance. In this harbor rot the hulks of two smaU
gunboats, the last, forlorn remains of that fleet that
once bore conquering armies to the shores of Spain,
and carried dismay into the ranks of European com-

m Hraisb Bab rtlansal.

AZILA. 201

merce. On the right bank of the river may still be
seen some of the ruins of the ancient city of Lixus,
and beyond the hill stands a large forest of mighty
trees. There is nothing especially noteworthy within
the city except the market-place, surrounded by an
arcade supported on small stone pillars, but the view
of it from the harbor, all white against the deep-
green of the hill-side, inclosed in a circle of high,
dark battlemented walls, reflected in the blue waters
of the river, and beneath that limpid sky, was alto-
gether charming, albeit in spite of the brilliant color-
ing— melancholy as well — one could not help pitying
the picturesque little town, left there lonely and silent
on that wild coast, with its deserted harbor, and fac-
ing that boundless ocean.

Camp was pitched that night on the right bank of
the Kus, and broken at an early hour the next morn-
ing. We were to go to Azila, distant about four
hours' ride from El Araish, and the baggage convoy
was accordingly dispatched in the morning, while the
embassy waited until towards evening. Wishing to
see the caravan from a fresh point of view, I went
with the baggage, and was very glad afterwards that
I had done so, as the trip proved to be quite an ad-
ventvirous one. The pack-mules travelled in small
parties, accompanied by the muleteers and servants,
and some distance apart. I set out alone, and for
nearly an hour rode over the hills without seeing any-
one but a solitary mule, led by an Arab servant and

202 AZILA.

laden with a pair of straw panniers, one of which sup-
ported the head and the other the feet of a groom of
the ambassador, who had been seized with a violent
attack of fever, and whose groans were enough to
move the very stones to pity. The poor creature
was laid across the mule's back, with his head hang-
ing down, his body curved, and the sun in his eyes,
and in that way he had travelled from Kariya-el-
Habassi, and would have to finish the journey to
Tangier. Indeed, it is the common manner of trans-
porting sick people throughout Morocco, unless they
happen to be rich enough to hire a litter and a pair
of mules 5 and he who has a pannier for his head may
count himself fortunate.

From the hills I descended to the shore, where I
found the cook, Ranni, and Luigi, who joined and
kept with me the rest of the way to Azila. For the
space of an hour we trotted over the sand, making
occasional detours to avoid the inroads of the tide.
During this ride the cook, who for the first time
throughout the entire trip had an opportunity to talk
freely to me, opened his heart. Poor man ! All the
incidents of the journey, all the wonderful things he
had seen, had not succeeded in ridding his mind of a
certain haunting memory that had never left him
since the first week of his sojourn in Tangier. It was
the recollection of a particular jelly that had turned
out badly on the occasion of a dinner given to the
French minister — a jelly that had struck the first blow

AZILA. 203

at his reputation, hitherto so firmly established in the
ambassadorial mind, and which, after all, had failed
through no fault of his, but simply because the mar-
sala was bad. Fez, the court, Mequinez, the Sebu,
the ocean, he had seen them all, and beheld every
one of them across that disk of solidified syrup ; or
rather he had seen and was seeing nothing at all, be-
cause although his bodily presence was in Morocco,
his spirit was in Piazza CasteUo. I asked him his
impressions of the journey, but they did not amount
to much. He could not " understand what sort of
animal it could be that would fashion such a place."
He told me about all his trials and difficulties, his en-
counters with the Arab scullions, his efforts to prepare
things fit to eat in the middle of these wilds, of his in-
tense longing to get back to Turin ; but he always
came back to that heart-rending jelly of the French
minister. " I do not know how to cook, perhaps ?
Will you do me the favor when you are next in
Turin," and he touched me on the arm to draw my
attention away from the contemplation of the ocean,
" Will you just do me the favor to put that question
to Count So-and-So, Countess Such-an-one, etc., whom
I have served for years and years ? Go to General
Ricotti, the Minister of War, he who has been minister
for five years and can get anything he likes ; go to
him, and just put that question squarely. Do I or do I
not know how to make jelly ? Just go to him, give
me that satisfaction ; spend a few moments with him

204 AZILA.

when we get back 5" and he was so urgent that in
order to look at the ocean in peace I was obliged to
promise that I would.

Meanwhile every hundred feet or so we would over-
take two or three pack-mules, a few mounted soldiers,
and some servants on foot ; little fragments of the
caravan which for an hour or more we continued to
pass. Among the soldiers were a few from El Araish,
tattered individuals, with handkerchiefs knotted about
their heads, and rusty guns clasped in their hands ;
while among the servants I observed, for the first
time, some boys of twelve or fifteen years, runaways,
they told me, from Mequinez and Kariya-el-Habassi,
who had joined the caravan, with nothing on their
backs but a tunic, to go to Tangier, the city of civili-
zation, and seek their fortunes, living meanwhile on
the charity of the soldiers. Some of these groups
would have a story-teller in their number, others were
amusing themselves by singing, and they all appeared
to be happy. About half-way we halted for luncheon
in the shadow of a rock, and I witnessed a little scene
that told me more of the character of the people than
a whole book of philosophical reflections would have
done. A soldier was seated on the beach, and beyond
him another; further on was a servant, and fifty feet
beyond him, on the slope of a little hill and close to a
spring, sat another servant, with a jug between his
knees. Wishing a drink of water I called to the
nearest soldier, " Elma " (water), and pointed to the

AZILA. 205

spring. The man assented with a polite gesture, and
ordered his neighbor imperiously to "get some water."
The second one made a movement as though he would
obey at once, and then turning in a threatening man-
ner towards the first servant began to scold him for
not having already run to perform his duty. This
one thereupon jumped up, and even took a few steps
towards the spring, but thinking better of it merely
told the man with the jug to fetch it at once, while
he, thinking that I was not paying much attention,
did not stir. Five minutes passed, and still no water.
I again applied to the first soldier, and again the whole
scene was enacted ; finally I saw that if I was to get
any water I would have to give the order directly to
the man with the jug. I did so, and he, after taking
some moments to consider the matter, at last con-
cluded to draw it, and brought it to me at a snail's
pace. We now resumed our journey, a fresh breeze
was blowing, and the sun had gone under a cloud.
The ride was enchanting, but as the tide rose higher
and higher our narrow strip of sandy beach became
more and more contracted, so that we were obliged
to ride single file, and soon found ourselves imprisoned
between the water and the cliffs, which rose almost
perpendicularly above our heads, and obliged us to
pick out a path among the stones and reefs against
which the waves were breaking. Sometimes my
mule would stop short in affright and I would find
myself entirely surrounded by water, enveloped in a

206 AZILA.

cloud of foam, deafened by the roar, blinded by the
spray, with my head in a whirl, and the headings of
obituary notices composed by my friends dancing
through my brain. But our hour, as the cook would
say, had not yet sounded, and after a mile of this sort
of thing we reached the foot of a cliff which seemed
to be more accessible, and up which we accordingly
scrambled in hot haste, only pausing to look back at
our perilous pathway. We were accompanied by an
old soldier of El Araish, on horseback, who was a
little touched in his head and laughed all the time, but
who, Heaven be praised, knew the road. This man
led us around the cliff and then through a thick jungle
of dwarf oaks, hawthorns, birches, cork-trees, brooms,
and shrubs of every kind; by a thousand winding
paths, amid rocks and brambles, in mud, water, and
mire, through places that seemed never before to have
been trodden by the foot of man, and, still laughing,
brought us out at last, after a long and very weari-
some detour all scratched and pulled to pieces, on the
shore, where we still found a narrow strip of dry sand
left. Here, the caravan not being yet in sight, the
coast was deserted, and we rode on for some time,
seeing nothing but sky and sea and the bases of the
steep hills, which run in successive chains to the
shore, and thus cut off the view before and behind.
We were proceeding in single file and in perfect
silence over a beach as hard and smooth as a floor,
the thoughts of every one of us, I venture to say.

AZILA. 207

many hundreds of miles away from Morocco, when
quite suddenly a horrible-looking object jumped out
from behind a neighboring rock, a frightfid old man,
half-naked, with a wreath of yellow flowers on his
head, a saint, who began inveighing against us, howl-
ing like a madman, and going through the motions,
with both hands, of tearing our faces, and pulling out
our beards. We stopped to watch him, whereat he
became more violent. Ranni, without more ado,
started towards him with a stick, but I stopped him,
and threw the man a piece of money. The rascal
became silent at once, picked up the coin, examined
it carefully on both sides, hid it away, and immedi-
ately began abusing us more furiously than ever.

" Ah," said Ranni, " this time a knock or two will
do him good." But the soldier suddenly became seri-
ous, and holding him back, addressed a few words to
the saint in a low voice and an accent of the deepest
reverence. The wretched old creature thereupon
ceased, and with a last furious look at us disappeared
once more among the rocks, where we were told he
had lived for two years subsisting entirely on roots
and herbs, and with the sole object of cursing such
of the Nazarene vessels as he could descry on the
horizon.

We now reascended the hills and rode for a long
time over winding paths, amid lentisks, brooms, and
boulders ; sometimes, the path winding along the edge
of a perpendicular cliff, we would see far below us the

208 AZILA.

sea breaking over the reefs, and a long stretch of sand
enlivened as far as the eye could reach by detachments
of the caravan, and beyond the boundless surface of
the ocean stretching away, blue and dotted over with
the white sails of distant vessels. The flattened sum-
mits of the hills across which we were riding formed
a vast undulating plain, covered with high shrubs,
and with not a vestige of cultivation in sight, not a
Jcubba even, nor a hut, nor a human creature, and
with no sound to be heard but the ceaseless murmur
of the sea.

" What a country !" said the cook, gazing uneasily
about him. " I only hope that nothing will happen
to us," and he asked me more than once if I did not
think there was any risk of our encountering a stray
lion or so.

Ascending and descending, losing and finding one
another again, and all the while shut in by the thick
underbrush, we journeyed for nearly two hours among
those desolate hills, and had begun to fear that we
had lost our way, when from the top of an eminence
we suddenly saw before us the towers of Azila and
the entire line of coast as far as the mountain on Cape
Spartel, whose blue contour stood out clear and dis-
tinct against the limpid background of the sky. There
was great rejoicing among my little caravan, but it
was unfortunately short-lived. Making our way down
to the beach, we descried some little distance ahead of
us a group of horses and some men lying about under

AZILA. 209

the trees. Immediately on seeing us they leaped to
their feet, moimted, and advanced to meet us in a
single line, formed in the shape of a half-moon, as
though with the idea of cutting off all chance of escape
in the direction of the town.

" We are in for it now," thought I. " This time
there is no help for it, it is a robber band without
doubt," and I motioned to the others to halt.

" Send the Moor on ahead !" cried the cook, and
the Moorish soldier went to the front.

" Let fly at them !" howled the cook, beside him-
self with fright.

" One moment," said I. " Suppose before we be-
gin killing them we ascertain if they have really any
desire to kill us," and I observed them more closely
as they advanced on a trot, ten of them, some dressed
in dark colors, some in white, and certainly failed to
see that any of them carried guns. At the head rode
an old man with a white beard; altogether I felt re-
assured.

" Let us form in a square," cried the cook, but I
told him there was no need. By this time the white-
bearded leader had uncovered, and was coming to-
wards me cap in hand. He was a Jew ! Ten feet
away he stopped with his suite, composed of four
other Jews and five Arab servants, and motioned that
he wished to speak to me.

" Hable Usteo" I replied.

" I am so and so, of such and such a place," he
Vol. II.— 14

210 AZILA.

said in a very sweet voice in Spanish, and bowing
with an air of deepest respect. " I am consular agent
of Italy and all the other European countries in the
town of Azila. I have the honor to be in the pres-
ence of His Excellency, the Ambassador of Italy, re-
turning from Fez, who left El Araish this morning
and is on his way to Tangier !"

Then I understood, but hastily assuming an air
of lofty dignity I sent a slow glance over my escort,
fairly trembling with pride and delight, and having
thus for a few brief seconds inhaled the incense of an
official reception, I reluctantly undeceived the old
gentleman, and told him who I was. He seemed a
good deal disappointed at first, but did not allow it to
alter his demeanor, offering me his house to rest in,
and on my declining insisting at all events on accom-
panying me to the spot which had been chosen for the
camp.

We accordingly proceeded all together, making a
circuit around the city in order to reach the shore on
the other side. If only Ussi and Biseo could have
beheld me then ! How picturesque a representative
of Italy I must have been, mounted on muleback,
Avith a white scarf wrapped about my head, and fol-
lowed by my staff, consisting of a cook in his shirt-
sleeves, two sailors armed with sticks, and a crazy
Moor ! Oh, Itahan art, what hast thou lost !

Azila, Zilia of the Carthaginians, Julia Traduda
of the Romans ; taken from these last by the Goths ;

AZILA. 211

sacked by the English towards the middle of the tenth
century ; consisting for thirty years of nothing but a
heap of stones ; then rebuilt by Abd-er-Rhaman ben
Ali, Caliph of Cordova ; captured by the Portuguese,
and retaken by the Moors, is now nothing but a poor
little town of not much over a thousand inhabitants,
coimting both Moors and Jews ; surrounded on the
side next the sea, as well as that towards the land, by
high battlemented walls, falling into ruins ; white and
silent as a cloister, and like all other small Moham-
medan towns stamped Avith that air of gentle melan-
choly that reminds one of the smile of a dying man,
who takes pleasure in the fact that his life is ebbing
away.

Towards sunset that evening the ambassador ar-
rived in camp, having passed through the town, and
I can see before me now the charming picture formed
by that brilliant cavalcade, so full of life and color,
which, issuing from one of the great battlemented
gateways, advanced in picturesque disorder along the
shore of the ocean, throwing across the sand, tinted
rose-color by the setting sun, its long black shadows.
And I can still feel the pang that went through me as
I said to myself, " What a pity, what a pity that
that charming picture must fade away, combining as
it does so much of Africa, and so much of Italy, so
many joyful prognostications, so many happy memo-
ries." And just at this point, indeed, the trip may be
said to have ended, as we camped the following mom-

212 AZILA.

ing at Ain Daliya, and two days later re-entered
Tangier, where the caravan dispersed in the self-
same market-square from which two months before
it had set forth.

The commander, the captain, the two artists, and I
left for Gibraltar together ; and the ambassador, the
vice-consul, and all the legation people went down to
the shore to see us off. The adieux were very warm ;
every one seemed to be more or less moved, even the
good General Hamed ben Kasen, who, straining my
hand against his broad breast, repeated three times
the only European words he knew — " A Bios /" — in
accents that came straight from his heart. Hardly
had we set foot on the vessel's deck when all that
phantasmagoria of pashas, negroes, tents, mosques,
and battleraented towers seemed to recede to an im-
measurable distance of time and space. It was not
as though a country merely, but an entire world,
faded at that moment from our gaze — a world, more-
over, that there was but small likelihood of our ever
beholding again. A little fragment of Africa accom-
panied us to the very ship in the persons of the two
Selams, AH, Hamed, Abd-er-Rhaman, Civo, Morteo's
servants, and all the rest of those worthy young fel-
lows whose Mussulman prejudices had not sufficed to
prevent their becoming attached to the Nazarenes
and serving them devotedly. These, too, now bade
us farewell with every token of lively affection and
sincere regret, Civo more than any of them, who.

Tangier trom tbe Beacb.

AZILA. 213

flourishing his white tunic before my eyes for the last
time, seized me around the neck like a friend of my
childhood and imprinted two kisses on my ear.

Even when the steamer had gotten under way they
all still stood in their boat waving their red fezzes in
the air, and calling out, as long as we could hear
them :

" Allah be with you on your journey !" " Come
back to Morocco !" " Farewell to the Nazarenes !"
" Farewell to the Italians !" " Farewell ! Farewell !"

INDEX.

Abbasides, the. ii, 20.

Abbondio, Don, 200, 235.

Abd-Allah, Gov.,214.

Abd-Allah. son of Gov. Sid-, ii, 184.

Abd-er-Rahman, see Sultan.

Abd-er-Rhaman ben Ali, ii. 211.

Abou-ben-Gileli, Kaid, 235, 236. 237,

248.
Ablutions required by Koran, 210.
Abu Yussuf Yakiib-el-Mansar, foun-
der of Alcazar, l.'iS.
Adventure, romantic, of member of

embassy, ii, 113.
Afiica, Fez, the Athens of, ii, 23.

residence of European Minister
to, 16.

trade with interior of, ii, 98.
Age of natives, difficult to tell the,

25.
Agriculture, state of, 20.
Ain-Daliya, 104, ii, 212.
Aissa, Sidi Mohammed-ben-, 52, 68.
Aissnwieh, arrival at Tangier, 54.

Mosque, 53.

religious order of the, 52.

rites, 53.

snake charmers of order of, 68.
Alarcos, battle of, 158.
Alcazar, band, 150.

battle of, 148.

bazaar, 156.

first sight of, 150.

Jews' quarter, 157.

traditions as to founding of, 158.

visit to the city of, 155.
Algeria, commerce with Morocco,
ii, 98.

revolt in province adjoining,
2.50.
Ali and Fathma, ii, 21.

Hassan, second son of, ii. 35.
Ali, Sherif, elected King, ii, 35.
Almohadean dynasty, Fez under

the, ii, 22.
Almohodes dynasty, 158,
Aloes, how utilized by Arabs, 71.
Alonzo IX. of Castile, 158.
Ambassador, the Italian, 14, 151.
American city, description of an, ii,
120.

Consul, 91, 104, 138.
Ampdusium, ancient name of Cape

Spartel, 73.
Amputation, horror of, 140.
Anatomy, study forbidden, 140.

Anecdote relating to law of retalia-
tion, ii, 103-106.
Antiquity, objects of, ii, 137.
Arab, bearing, 23-24.

boys, appearance of, 27.

cloaks, 2-1.

costume, 24.

courage, ii, 116.

faculty for repose, 23.

foot servants, 105.

manner of hardening skull, 114.

music, 14, 30,51.

musicians, 65.

nature, 62.

objection to portraits, 108.

passion for command, 103.

race characteristics, 64.

story-tellers, 64.

treatment of horses, 136.

women, 34, 35.
Arabic, 20.

Aristocracy of Fez, ii, 5.
Arrival at Fez, ii, 3.
Arms, of the vice-consul, 93.
Army, diflBculty in obtaining infor-
mation concerning, ii, 74.

size of the, ii, 74.

the Moroccoan, 110.

useful in collecting taxes, 219.
Art, reception accorded Italian, ii,

12.
Artillerv, commander-in-chief of the,
ii."72.

manoeuvres of the, ii, 146.
Artists, the two, 16.

attempts to sketch the natives,
108.
Arusi, story of the brigand, ii, 123-

130.
Asp, Cleopatra's, 95.
Athens of Africa, Fez the, ii. 23.

picture of expulsion of Duke of,
126.
Atlantic, the, 107, ii. 199.
Atlas Mountains, 18.
Audience witli the Sultan, private,

ii, 62.
Austria, whipping, when abolished

in, 238.
Azamoor, ii, 200.
Azlla, 148; ii, 210.

captured by the Portuguese, ii,
211.

Carthaginian name for, ii, 210.

first sight of, ii, 208.

215

216

INDEX.

Azila, rebuilt by Abd-er-Rhaman-
ben-Ali, 11, 211.
retaken by the Moors, 211.
sacked by the English, 11, 211.
taken by the Goths, 11, 210.

Bab-el-Maroc, 11, 25.
Bahr-ed-Dholma, the Sea of Shad-
ows, 11, 199.
Bahr-el-Kebir, the great sea, 11, 199.
Bakali, the Grand Sherlf, 11, 30.
Ball playing, 61,185.
Band, the Alcazar, 150.
Barbary, people of, acknowledge

Edris"-obn-Edris, li, 21.
Bargas, Sidi, Minister of Foreign Af-
fairs, 80.

visit to, 82.
Bathing among Arab peasants, 210.
Battle of Alarcos, 158.

CastlUejos, ii, 117.

Isly, 11, 115, 117.

Tetuan, 11, 117.

The Three Kings, 147.

Vad-Rasen, 170.
Bazaar of Alcazar, 156.
Bazaars of Fez, 11, 16.
Beach of Tangier, 41.
Bearing of Arabs as compared with

Europeans, 2.S.
Beating a boy, 237.

negro thief, 34.

soldier, il. 183.
Beauty of Jewesses, 26.

a slave, ii, 109.
Bekir, Imam Ahmed ben Abey,

erects a dome, ii, 24.
Bekr-el-Habassi, Sid Gov., li, 190.
Ben-Aouda, garden of Gov., 168.

Governor, 166.

incident in family history of
Gov., 170.

sons and nephews of Gov., 167.

visit from, 173.
Ben el-Habassl, Gov., 195.
Beni-Hassan, boundary of the dis-
trict of, 215.

district of, 196.

Governor of, 200.

horsemen, the, ii, 184.
Beni-Hassans, character of the, 199.

customs, 203.

revolt of the, 202.

visit from the son of Gov. of, 11,
187.
Benl-Malek, district of, 171.
Beni-Mtir, tribe of, 193.
Ben Tinea Gorge, 235 ; il, 181.
Berber, a native, ii, 134.

courage, ii, 116.
Berbers, the, 18.

vanquish Mulai Abdallah, li, 36
Biseo, painter of architecture, li, 78.

paints a mosque, ii, 79.

Biseo, Roman artist, a, 16.
Black Guard, the, 11, 36.
Black, Moors dislike for, 11, 40.
Bleeding, method of stopping, 141.
Blindness, prevalence of, 25.
Blue Fountain River, the, 2.")1.
Boasherin, the Grand Vizier, li, 56.

invitation to dine with, 11, 55.

palace of, li, 66.
Boats, Moroccoan, 193.
Boccard, Signer Glullo di, 16.

as a guide, ii, 81.

an entomologist, 189.

enterprise of, ii. 164.
Books, absence of, 20.

scarcity in Fez, ii, 77.
Boys, appearance of Arab, 27.

coming from rite of circumcis-
ion, 32.

pig-tails of Arab, 28.

runaway, 11, 204.
Bravery of Moorish army, ii, 116.
Bread, Koran forbids waste of, ii,

168.
Breakfast with Sid Miisa, ii, 29.
Bridal procession, 37.
Bride, a Moorish, 52.

fifteen-year-old, of Mohammed,
45.
Brigand Arusi, story of the, ii, 123-

130.
Brussels, home-sick artist from, 76.
Bu-Bekr-ben-el-Habassi, Gov., 179.
Bugeaud, Marshal, ii, 117.
Buhamei, Hamed Ben Kasen, 79; ii,
182.

kind heart of, ii, 183.
Buker-Sld, ii, 133.
Butter-Niche Gate, ii, 18, 40, 146.
Burnt Gate, ii, 18, 25.
Buttons stamped with head of Queen
Victoria, ii, 13.

Ca'ik, description of the, 22.
Calif Edrls-ebn-Edris, ii, 21.

HarClnal Kashid, ii,2l.
Caliph of Cordova, the, ii, 211.
Camoens, the poet, 149.
Camp-life, return to, 11, 155.
Caps, the Fez, li, 96.
Captain Fortunato Cassone, 16, 137 ;
ii, 114.

Giullo di Boccard, 16, 189 ; ii, 81,
164.
Cape Malabat, 41.

Spartel, 73 ; il, 208.

worn in Morocco, 5.
Carabus rugosas, 190.
Caravan for interior of Africa, ii, 93.

once more, the, ii, 159.
Cards, favorite amusement of Arab

peasants, 210.
Carriage presented by the Queen of
England, ii, 41.

INDEX.

217

Carriages, absence of. 43.

not allowed in Tangier, 234.
Carthaginians. Zilia of the, ii, 210.
Cassone, Commander Fortunate, 16,

137; ii, 114.
Castile, Alonzo TX. of. 158.
Castillejos, battle of, ii, 117.
Cataract, operation for, ii, 87.
Caulker from the Dora, 86.

Luigi the, 121,122; ii, 49.
Cavalry exercise at fete of Moham-
med, 00.
Cavalry, Fez, ii, G.
Cemetery, Jewish, of Fez, Ii, 19.
Ceremonies, Grand Master of, ii, 4.
IHimui Opac.a, 190.
Chapel, Christian in Tangier, 21.
Character, national, 20.

of natives shown by an incident,
ii, 2(14.
Charg6 d'affaires, Italian, 14, 16, l.ol.
Chess-player, Sidi-Bargas a great,

85.
Christian religion in Tangier, 21.
Christians, feeling towards, ii, 112.
hatred of, ii, 111.
to occupy the country by a coup
rfe main, ii, 86.
Churches founded by the Portu-
guese, 21.
Cicindela campestrh, 189.
Circumcision, rite of, 32.
Clva, the vice-consul's servant, 101 .
Civilization, European, how re-
garded by Moors, ii, 137.
Moorish, 154.
Mussulman, 20.

slowness of its advance, ii, 154.
Cleopatra's asp, 95.
Cloak, Arab fashion of wearing the,

24,
Cnbra capcllo, 95.
Colony, appearance of the European,

42.
Commander-in-chief of the Artil-
lery, ii, 72.
Commander Hamed Ben Kasen Bu-

hamei, 79, 222, 236, 250 ; ii, 212.
Commerce, ii, 98.

between Africa and Morocco, Ii,

98.
of Morocco, restrictions of, ii, 96.
state of in Morocco, 20.
Consul, the American, 91, 104, 138.
costume of the Spanish, 91.
the Spanish, 95.
Consular agent at Azila, ii, 210.
El Araish, 139.
Mazagan, 16.
Cook, his mortification over some
jelly, ii, 202.
nocturnal visit to the, 121.
opinion of the Sultan, ii, 49.
the ambassador's, 102.

Corp.ses carried through the streets,

ii, Ifi.
Cossi/phus Iloffnnnscggi, 190.
Costume, Arab, 24

of Fez, Jewesses, ii, 64.
Costumes of soldiers, ii, 5.
Cotte, Signer Narcisco, ii, 130.
Country about Tangier, 71.

character of the, between
Mduma and Mequinez, ii, 165.
Courage, Arab, ii, 116.

Berber, ii, 116.

Moroccoan's estimate of their
own, ii, 115.

quality of Moroccoan, ii, 1\G.
Couriers, postal, 165.
Cries of the soldiers, 132, 221.
Crime, prevalence of, as compared

with Europe, ii, 141,
Criminals carried about, ii, 150.
Crops, succession of, 73.
Cultivation neglected about Tan-
gier, 72.

of land in Morocco, 73.
Curing of hides, ii, 96.
Curses of children, ii, 196.

the people of Mequinez, ii, 177.

Daggers, ii, 96.

Dancing at Arab peasant funerals,
212.

negro, 62.

soldiers, ii, 149.
Day in Fez, the last, ii, 153.
Deformitv, absence of, among the

Arabs, 25.
Deformed mulatto at Tangier, 35.

servant in Fez, ii, 135.
Degeneracy of the people, ii, 151.
Demons, belief in, ii, 171.
Diseases most common in Morocco,

141.
Dinner at hotel in Tangier, 10.

description of a Moorish, 49.

first, in camp, 95.

invitation from the Grand Vizier,
ii, 55.

with the Grand Vizier, ii, 59.
Diplomacy, Moroccoan, ii, 100.
Dirt in Shelal's house, ii, 108.
District of Beni Flassan, 196.

Karya el Habassi, 180.
Djehad law, the, ii, 74.
Doctor Miguerez, 86, 120.

falls ill, ii,162.

his difficulties in treating women
188.

performs operation, ii, 87.

prescription swallowed, 139.

visits a harem, ii. 88.
Doctors, scarcity of European, 141.
Dome erected by Imam Bekir, ii. 24.
Dora, the, 15, 16.
Dragoman, legation, 86.

218

INDEX.

Dragoman of French legation, 91.
Dress, European compared with
Moorish , 22.

Selam's opinion of, ii, 50.

gala, of a Moor, 22.

of a negro servant, 33.

of Arab boys, 27.

of peasants, 209.

of women, 34.

of Jewesses, 27 ; ii, 64.

of Jewish men and boys, 26.

of women in Fez, ii, 52.
Drummond Hay, 29 : ii, 92.
Drugs, old fashioned, used in Africa,

ii 99.
i)Mars,'203.

described, 207.

life of the, 209.
Ducali, Mohammed, 86, 115, 117; ii,
101.

his tent, 117.
Ducalla, story of Governor of prov-
ince of, ii, 192.
Dynasty, Fez under the Almoha-
dean, ii, 22.

Filali,ii,&5.

miseries of the Filali, ii, 35-37.

of Edris, 11. 21,

of the Sheriflan Saids, Ii, 35.

Eating, Moorish manner of, ii, 73.
Edris-ben-Abdallah, ii, 20.
Edris, dynasty of, 11, 21.
Edris-ebn-Edris, ii, 21.

hangs a thief, ii, 31.

mosque of, ii, 22.

sacred zauia of, ii, 173.

sword of, ii, 24.
Education of Generals in Sultan's
army, 80.

of peasant boys, 208.
El Araish, 11,200.

escort, 131.

Governor of, 131.

Italian consular agent, 139.

soldiers of, ii, 204.
Elma, water, ii, 204.
El Reshid, reign of, ii, 35.
Embassy, English, at Fez, 15.

Italian, 12.

Italian, leaves Tangier, 87.
Empire of Morocco, founded, ii, 21.
Emperor, the, see Sultan, Mulai el

Hassan.
Encampment, description of our

first, 94.
England, secret aid to Morocco, 11,
116.

trade with, ii, 98.
English ambassador, daughter of in
Fez, 11, 57.

Azila sacked by the, ii, 211.

second-hand uniforms, ii, 13.

Episcopal Fee established by Greg-
ory IX., 11, 22.
Escort, arrival of the, from Fez, 77.
Beni-Hassan, 200.
Kariya el Habassi, 180.
Seffian, 167.
Sjdi Hassem, 220.
Europe, distrust of, ii, 112.

bearing compared with Arabs,

23.
doctors, scarcity of, 141 ; sum-
moned too late, 142.
Europeans, 19.

in Sultan's army, ii, 6.
Evil eye averted by Soloman's seal,

41.
Excursion through the camp by

night, 116.
Execution, description of an, ii, 92-
95.

Fanaticism, Mussulman, 20.

of old women, 164.
Faraun, ruins of, ii, 168.
Fathma, Ali and, ii, 21, 35.
Feast days, closing of gates on, ii, 86.
Fencing in Morocco, 63 ; ii, 149.
Ferocity of Arab nature, 62.
Fertilizer used in Morocco, 72.
Festivities, negro, ii, 119.
Fete, characteristics of a Mussul-
man, 70.
Fez, accounts of former travellers,
75.

Arabian historian on, ii, 20.

arrival at, 11, 3.

bazaars, ii, 16.

by night, ii, 132.

effects of the air of, ii, 101.

English embassy at, 15.

first impressions of, 11, 11.

first sight of, 251.

first walk in, ii, 13.

founding of, ii, 20.

founding of, by Edris, ii, 21.

gardens surrounding, 11, 18.

gates of, 11, 18.

Impressions of, ii, 154.

Jewish cemetery, ii, 19.

Jews, treatment of, 11, 64.

Mella,li,19.

mountains, 238.

new, ii, 17.

old, ii, 17.

plan of, ii, 17.

preparations for our reception,
251.

ruins of, 11, 18.

ruins of fortresses overlooking,
ii,17.

shops, ii, 16.

terraces of, ii, 51.

traditions about name of, ii, 21-
22.

INDEX.

219

Fez, under the Almohadean dynasty,
ii. 22.

view of, ii, 17.

visitors from, 250, 252.

walls, ii, 17.

women's dress, ii, 52.
Field pieces presented by Spain, ii,

146.
Fighting force of, ii, 116.
Figs, Indian, 71.

Filali dynasty, misery under the, ii,
35-37.

Sheriflan family of the, ii, 35.
Finance, Minister of, ii, 10.
Flag of United Italy, 15, 94.
Flat-irons unknown, ii, 77.
Fleet, remains of the Moroccoan, ii,

200.
Flou, Moroccoan coin, 41.
Flowers, wild, 138.
Food, Mussulman respect for, ii, 183.
Founding of Empire of Morocco, ii,
21.

Fez, ii,2I.
Fortress of Taza, ii, 84.
Fortresses, ruins of, at Fez, ii, 17.
France, trade with, ii, 98.
Frederick of Hesse-Darmstadt, not

allowed to drive, 234.
French renegade, a, ii, 150-152.
French War, the, ii, 115.
Furniture made in Tetuan, ii, 97.

Games of youths, ii, 148.

Garb, revolt in province of, 171.

Garden of Gov. Ben Aouda, 168.

the Sultan's, ii, 48.
Gardens surrounding Fez, ii, 18.

Tangier, 71.
Garet, province of 11.
Gate, Burnt, ii, 18, 25.

Butter-Niche, ii, 18, 40, 146.

El Ghisa. ii, 18, 86.

Iron, ii, 18.

New, ii, 18.

of Mequinez, ii, 174.

of the Father of Leather-Dress-
ers, ii, 18.

Utilitjr, ii, 18.

Lion, ii, 18.

that opens, ii, 18,

Sidi Buxida, ii, 18.
Gates closed at noon on feast days,
ii, 86.

of Fez, ii, 18.
Gauzes, ii, 96.
Generals of Sultan's army, education

of, 80.
German, a renegade, ii, 89.
Ghalu fountain, the, ii, 31.
GhLsaGate, EI, ii. 18, 86.
Gibraltar, 3.

its attraction for Europeans, 11.

the Rock of, 74.

Gileli, Ben Amil, Gov., ii, 5.
Oiralda Tower, 158.
Girl, adventure of little Moorish, ii,
i;^5.

Gloves, astonishment caused by, 67.
GcBthe, " Piramide della essistenza,"

105.
Gorge, Beb-el, or Ben Tinea, 235 ; ii,

181.
Goths, Azila taken by the, ii, 210.
Governor Abd Allah, 214.
Ben Aouda, 166.
Bu-Bekr-ben-el-Habassi, 179, 195 ;

ii, 190, 195.
El Araish. son of the, ii, 200.
Gileli Ben Amu, ii, 5.
of Beni Hassan, 200 ; ii, 184.
of Beni Hassan, son of, ii, 184,

187.
of Kariya-el-Habassi, 183.
of Mequinez, ii, 167.
of Province of Ducalla, story of

the, ii, 192.
of Tangier, visit to the, 82.
Sid-Abd-Alli\, ii, 184.
Governors forced to give up their

treasures, ii. 194.
Granada, title-deeds of estates in, ii,

111.
Grand Sherif Bakali. the, ii, 30.
Grasshoppers, Selam's account of

the, 232.
Gregory IX. establishes Episcopal

See, ii, 22.
Gueddar, K%ilba of Sidi, 215.
Gunboats, hulks of two, ii, 200.
Guns made in Tetuan, ii, %,

Hadd-el-Gharbia, 91.

cavalry, 214.
Hadj6, Mohammed Ben Aissa, Grand

Master of Ceremonies, ii, 4.
Hamed, Arab servant of Signor
Patxot, 163.

his appearance, ii, 172.

Ben Kasen Bufaamei, Kaid, 79,
222,236 250; ii, 212.
Harftn al Rashid, Ii, 21.
Hashish, 239.
Hassan, second son of Ali and

Fathma, li, 35.
Hassem, Kubba of Sidi-, 215.
Hats, opera, put to a novel use,ii,40.

objects of curiositj[, ii, 50.
Hay, Drummond, 29; ii, 92.
Heads on the Gates of Fez, 250.

suspended from the walls, ii, 25.
Heat, 185; ii, 184.
Hercules, caverns dedicated to, 73.

the twelve labors of, ii, 83.
Herrez, talismans called, 164.
Hides, ii, 96.

Historian, Khaldoum the, ii,23.
History, Khaldoum's, ii, 32.

220

INDEX.

Honesty, Moorish estimate of Euro-
pean, ii, 140.

Horse, Arab's treatment of his, 136.

Horses, Moroccoan, 135.
of the escort, 77.
the Sultan's, ii, 41.

Hospitality, effect of Moorish, ii, 111.

Hotel in Tangier, 10.

Hottest dav, description of the, ii,
184.

Hubner, Baron, description of an
American city by, ii, 120.

Ignorance regarded as a safeguard,

ii, 38.
Impressions of Fez, ii. 154.
Imprisonment of Governors, ii, 193.
Incident of journey to Mequinez, ii,
102.
showing character of the people,
ii, 204.
Indian figs, 71.
Indolence in Morocco, 44.
Infantry, Moroccoan, ii, 40.
Insects, 137, 189.
Instructions issued to a minister in

Morocco, 81.
Inundations, 192.
Invasion, dreed of, ii, 112.
Isly, Abd-er-llhaman, the conqueror
of, ii, 37.
battle of, ii, 115,117.
Italian charge d'affaires, 14.
embassy to Fez, 12.
legation at Tangier, 15.
products taken to Morocco, ii,

95.
vice-consul at Tangier, 16.
Italy, flag of United, 15, 94.

presents from the King of, 15,

233 ; ii, 41.
whipping, when abolished in,
238.

Jelly that failed, the, ii, 202, 203.

Jewelry, ii, 97.

Jewesses, their beauty, 26.

their dress, 27 ; ii, 64.

visit from some, ii, 64.
Jews, 19 ; ii. 19.

boys of Tangier, 75.

cemetery at Fez, ii, 19.

deputation of, from Azila, ii,209.

early marriages, ii, 67.

made to go barefoot, ii, 64.

appearance of the men, 25.

dress of men and boys, 26.

aot allowed to carry arms, 203.

protected by Emperor Abd-er-
Rahman, li, 65.

protected by Emperor Suleiman,
ii, 66.

quarter. Alcazar, 157.

quarter, Fez, ii, 19.

Jews, quarter, Tangier, 27.

quarter, sack of the, ii, 36.

treatment of, in Fez, ii, 65.
Journey to Mequinez, ii, 160.
Julia Traducta of the Romans, ii,

210.
Jugurtha, 207,

Kaid Ilamed-ben-Kasen, 79, 222, 236,
250 ; ii, 212.

helps me, ii, 182.

kind heart of, ii, 183.

Abou ben Gileli, 235, 236, 237, 248.
Karaou'in, Moscjue of, ii, 22, 23.

described, ii, 24.
Kariya-el-Habassi, 180; ii, 192.

visit to the Gov. of, 182.
Kasbah at Tangier, 39, 81.

mosque of the, 40.

view from the, 40.
Khaldoum, the historian, ii, 23, 24.
Khaldoum's history, ii, 32.
Khetib, Sidi Mohammed el, 81.
Kiff, 8, 125, 166.

an experiment with, 239-243.
Kings, scene of battle of the three,

147.
Koran, forbids representation of
human form, 109.

forbids waste of bread, ii, 168.

on ablutions, 210.

verses from the, used as medi-
cine, 140, 169.

influence on science, 20.
Krim, Sidi Abd el, 170, 171.
Kubba, 134, 172.
Ktibbas of Sidi-Gueddar and Sidi-

Hassem, 215.
Kiis, the river, 149, 163 ; ii, 200.
Kuskussrt, 50, 151, 209, 223 ; ii. 118.

soldier flogged for throwing
balls of, ii, 183.

Lab-d-Barod, 131, 143.

of Sidi Hassem escort, 221.

practised by the Sultan, ii, 33.
Lamamora, General, ii, 147.
Lamb sacrificed to secure protection,

152.
Landing, manner of, at Tangier, 4.
Landwelir, 110.
Language, 20.
Languages, mixture of, 17.
Lashes inflicted as a punishment,

237.
Laundrymen, Arab, ii, 19.
Law, Djehad, ii, 74.

Malekite, ii, 97.

of retaliation, 25 ; ii, 103-106.
Legation. Italian, at Tangier. 15.
Legations, foreign, at Tangier, 8.

accompanying tiie embassy, 87.
Leghorn, columns from, ii, 168.
Liamaui, kubba of Sidi, 134.

INDEX.

221

Light House on Cape Spartel, 73.
Litter made in Mequinez, ii, 177.
Lixus (Luxus), ancient name of

river Kiis, 149 ; ii, 200.
Lixus. ruins of city of, ii, 201 .
Louis XIV. asked for hand of daugh-
ter of Duchess dela Valliere, ii,36.
Luigi the caulker, 86, 121.

his opinion of the Sultan, ii, 49.
wants to know about the artists'
sketches, 122.
Lukkos, river, 149.
Lycosa tarentula, 190.

Macaroni au joux, 95.
Machassan, river, 148, 149.
Madjnn, a preparation oikiff, 240.
Malabat, cape, 41.
Malek, Sultan, 149.
Malekite law, the, ii, 97.
Manoeuvres of Moroccoan army, ii,

117.
Manzone, " Natale," by Alexander,

ii,83.
Maps, absence of, 20.
Market square of Tangier, 9 ; ii, 212.
Market, vegetable, of Fez, ii, 17.
Marriage, early, among Jews, ii, 67.
Marseilles, columns from, ii, 168.
Mary, name of, invoked by Arab

peasants, 212.
Master of ceremonies, the, ii, 42.
Mauritania, Tingitana, 21.
Mazagan, 205.

consular agent, 16.
Mduma, river, ii, 162.

ruins of city of, ii, 163.
Mecca of the West, the, ii, 22.
Meda, river, ii, 195.
Medical science in Morocco, 140.
Mehdla, 192.
Mella of Alcazar, 157.

Fez, ii, 19, 66.
Meloe majalis, 189.
Mequinez, 193.

character of country near, ii, 165.

curses, ii, 177.

distance from Fez, ii, 160.

experiences in, ii, 175.

first impressions of, ii, 173.

first view of, ii, 166.

gate, ii, 174.

Governor's Palace, ii, 174.

incident of journey to, ii, 162.

last view of, ii, 178.

story of the bad king of, ii, 170.

visit from Governor, ii, 167.

■wonders of, ii, 168.
Merchant, talk with a, ii, 137.

travelling to Fez, a, ii, 161.
Merchants, European, ii, 112.

of Fez, ii, 95.
Miguerez, Doctor, 86.

description of, 120.

Miguerez, difficulties with women
patients, 188.

falls ill, ii, 162.

performs operation for cataract,
ii, 87.

prescription swallowed, 139.

visits a harem, ii, 88.
Mihrab, ii, 24.
Minarets in Tangier, 39.
Minghetti, Italian statesman, ii, 10.
Minister of Finance, ii, 10.

of Foreign Affairs, salary of a, 80.

of War, ii, 0.

of War, Sid-Abd-Alia-ben-Ha-
med, ii, 6, 69.

Sid Miisa, description of, ii, 27.
Ministers, life of European in Africa,

16.
Mikk6s, river, 249, 251 .
Military strength of Morocco and

Europe, ii, 115.
Misflui, Kaid, 82.

reputation for learning, 85.
Modesty of Arab women, ii, 83.
Moghreb, the, 192; ii,20.
Moliammed Ducali, 86.

description of, 115.

his afrairs prosper, ii, 101.

his tent. 117.

feast of the birth of, 58.

Sidi, son of Mulai, Sherif, ii, 35.

Sultan Sid-, ii, 146.

the Black, 148.

the young Moor, 44.
Molouia, ii, 26, 35.
Mona, 110, 154, 172, 223.

a voluntary, 173.
Monasteries founded by the Portu-
guese, 21.
Money, Moroccoan, 41.

its inconveniences, 40.
Money-changers of Fez, ii, 16.
Monstrosity at Fez, a, 35.
Moor, gala dress of a rich, 22.

Mohammed the, 44.

Shelal the, 2.50.

affairs of. ii, 101.

tea at house of, ii, 108.

under protection of Italian lega-
tion, 44.
Moors, 18; ii, 107.

descendants of the Spanish, ii,
111.

dexterous manner of eating, ii,
73.

retake Aztla, ii, 211.

the Spanish, 18.

way df passing the time, 45.
Moorish civilization, 154.

dinner, description of a, 49,

hospitality, effect of, ii. 111.

house, description of a, 46.

shops, 31.

shopkeepers, 31.

222

INDEX.

Moorish tea, 4'j.
Morbo celtico, 25, 140.
Morocco, agriculture, 20.

commerce. 20.

fencing, 63 ; ii, 149.

former condition of, 21.

founding of Empire of, ii, 21.

military government ol, 19.

natural advantages, 18.

population, 18.

present state of, 21.

science in, 20.

situation, 18.

taxation, 20.

trade, 20.

whipping as conducted in, 238.
Moroccoan money, 41.

saddles, 77.
Morteo Signer, 86.

account of, 205.
Mosaics, ii, 97.
Mosque, Aissowieh, 53.

Kasbah, 40.
Mosques, Christians excluded from,
38 ; ii, 23.

of Karaouin and Edris, 11, 22-23.

of Tangier, 39.
Mount Tgh'at, 252.

Zarhun, ii, 173.

Zaiag, ascent of, ii, 83.

Zalag, shape of, ii, 84.
Mountain, Red, 84, 106, 108.
Mountains, Atlas, 18.

Fez, 238.
Mud in Fez, ii, 91.
Muezzin of Kasbah Mosque, 40.
Mules of the escort, 77.
Muluya, river, 193.
Mulai Abdallah, Invents punish-
ment, ii,36.

reign of, ii, 36.

Ahmed el Dehebi, reign of, 11, 36.

ben-Na.ssan-, ii, 200.

Edris, sacred zaata of, 11, 173.

el Hassan, see Sultan.

Hamed's cavalry, 149.

Heshiam, reign of, ii, 37.

Ismael, ii, 200.

Ismael builds Mequlnez palace,
Ii, 168.

Ismael, reign of, 11, 36.

Ismael, women and children of,
Ii, 168.

Malek, Sultan, 148.-

Sherlf, 11, 35.

Soliman, cruelty to Jews, ii, 37.

Soliman, stops piracy, 11, 37.

Soliman, reign of, Ii, 37.

Yezid, reign of, Ii, 36.
Musa, Sid, brother of, ii, 69.

described, 11. 27.

favorite servant, ii, 133.

interviews with, 11, 99.

sons of, 11, 30.

Music, Arab. 14, 30, 50, 51.
Musicians, Arab, 65.
Mussulman, civilization, 20.

fanatacism, 20.

religion, 20.

respect for food, 11, 183.
Mutilation, rare, 140.
Muzuneh, Moroccoan coin, 70.

Natale, by Alex. Manzone, ii, 83.
Negro dancing, 62.

festivities, ii, 119.

servant in gala dress, 33,

slaves, ii, 118.
Negroes, 19.
News, items of, 11. 133.
Newspapers, 11, 77.
Nicknames, ii, 131.
Night, Fez by, ii, 132.

tour of the camp by, 116.

tour of the palace by, ii, 12.
Nlgrizia, 11, 99.
Numldians, 207 ; Ii. 3.
Nuptual chamber, visit to a, 48.

Ocean, first view of the, Ii, 199.
Odor of the people, 6, 64.
Officers in the army, ii, 73.
Olive, the wild, 130.
Opera hats, excite curiosity, 11,50.

put to novel use, ii, 40.
Operation for cataract, 11, 87.
Orderly, Comm. Cassone's, 86.

description of, 100.

opinion of Sultan, ii, 49.

sets Luigi straight about art, 122.

Painting, of Fez women, ii, 52.
Palace, imperial, at Mequlnez, ii, 168.

of Governor at Mequlnez, ii, 174.

of Grand Vizier Boasherin, 11,56.

of Sid Musa, 11, 28.

our Fez, ii, 8.

our Fez, by night, 11, 12.

our Fez, spectacle afforded by,
11, 75.
Pamelia scabrosa, 190.
Patxot, Signer, 86.

Signer, Arab servant of, 163.
Pearls, river of, 251, 252 ; ii, 17.

river of, properties of water, 11, 20.
Perspective, ignorance of principles

of, ii, 79.
Petitions, to the Sultan, presenting,

Ii, 147.
Pheropsophvs Africanus, 189.
Pianos in Morocco, 234.

said to be one in Fez, 11, 77.
Pig-tails of Arab boys, 28.
Piramide della esistenza, Goethe, 106.
Plain of the Sebu. 185 ; 11, 181.
Plough, an Arab, 72.
Ploughs, women hitched to, 72.
Polygamy, 11, 142.

INDEX.

223

Population of Fez under Almoha-
dean dynasty, ii, 23.
of Morocco, 18.

of Tangier, appearance, dress,
odor, types, 5-6.
Portugal, King of, 1-18.

Sebastian of, 148.
Portuguese, capture of Azila by the,
11,211.
churches and monasteries found-
ed by the, 21.
Portrait, of King of Italy, ii, 4.").
Portraits, Arab feeling about, 108.
Postal service, ICv').
Pottery, ii, 97.

Poverty of the peasants. 21.3.
Powder play, 131, 143, 221.

play. Sultan practises the, ii, 33.
Prayers, superstition in regard to,

74.
Presenting arms, manner of. ii, 4.
Presents, custom of making, 214.
of Victor Emanuel to Sultan, 15,
233; ii, 41.
Printing-presses, absence of, 20.
Prisoners taken by Spain, ii, 117.
Procession, bridal, 37.
Promenade of Tangier, the pu bl ic, 41 .
Prussia, whipping, when abolished

in, 238.
Pudding, superstition concerning a

certain, 169.
Punishment, Arab form of, 237.
of a boy, 159, 237.
of a negro thief, 34.
of a soldier, ii, 183.
Purchases in Fez, ii, 136.

Quarrel, settled by the ambassador,
151.

Racma, transformation of, 33.
Rain, Arabs imploring Allah for
grace of, 38.
in Fez, ii, 91.
Ranni, the commander's orderly, 86,
the commander's orderly, de-
scription of, 100.
the commander's orderly, opin-
ion of the Sultan, ii, 49.
the commander's orderly, talks
of art with Luigi, 122.
Read, boy punished for not learning

to, 159.
Rebels' heads suspended from gates,

ii,25.
Reception at Fez, preparations for
our, 251.
state, ii, 41.
Red Mountain, the 84, 106, 108.
Religion, the Christian, how repre-
sented in Fez, 21.
the Mussulman, 20.
Remedies in vogue, 141.

Renegade, a French, ii, 150.

a German, ii, 89.
Renegades, ii, 88.

in the arniy, ii, 149.
Residence in Fez, our, ii, 8.

of Minister of War, ii, 70.

the imperial, ii,48.
Retaliation, law of, 25 ; ii, 103-106.
Revenue, hides the principal source

of. ii, 96.
Review of troops by Sultan, ii, 146.
Revolt in province adjoining Al-
geria, 250.

in province of Garb, 171.
Revolts among the tribes, 214.
Revolver made by German renegade,

ii, 89.
Riches, natural, of the country, ii, 98.
Rif, 37.

mountains, 149.

punishment of inhabitants of
the, ii, 123.

son of Governor of the, 60.
Rifs of the Berber race, 36.
Riding in Morocco, manner of, 135.
Risotto a la Milanese, 95.

an imitation of, 50.
Rite of circumcision, 32.
Rites of the Aissowieh, 53.
Riveiro, Duke de, 148.
River, Blue Fountain, 251.

Mduma, ii, 162.

Mikk6s, 249, 251.

Muluya, 19.3.

of Pearls, 252 ; ii. 17.

of Pearls, properties of water, ii,
20.

Sebu, 193, 202.

Warru^ 149.
Rock of Gibraltar, 74.
Romans, JtUia Trnducta of the, ii, 210.
Romantic adventure of member of

embassy, ii, 113.
Rugs, Moroceoan, ii, 96.
Ruins, ancient, on road to Mequinez,
ii, 163.

of Fez. ii, 18.
Rumli, Arab name for Romans, ii, 163.

Saddles, Moroceoan, 77, 135.
Safior, ii, 200.

Sai'ds, dynasty of the Sherifian, ii, 35.
Saint, a naked, ii, 16.

on the road to Tangier, ii, 207.

visit to the camp of a, 172.

secular, a, ii, 173.

spits on Mr. Drummond Hay, 29.

strikes M. Sourdeau, 28.
Saints, 28.

of Tangier, 29, 30.
Salaries of oflScials, 80.
Sallee, ii, 200.
Sallust, 207.
Sand deposit, at river mouths, 192.

224

INDEX.

Santa Cruz, ii, 200.
Saying, a Mussulman, ii, 87.
Sciatica, Doctor Miguerez attacked

witli, ii, 162.
Science, condition of, 20.
Scliooling of Arab peasant boys, 208.
Scovasso, Comm. Stefano, 14, 16, 151.
Seamen, Italian, attached to the

embassy, 86.
Sebastian of Portugal, 148.
Sebii, plain of the, 185 ; ii, 181.
Sebii river, 192, 193, 202.

river, an affluent of the, 249, 251.

river, manner of crossing the,
194.

river, difficulty in getting over
the, ii, 190.

river, on the bank of the, 195 ;
ii, 184.

river, Sultans never cross in
times of peace, 193.
Secretary, the Sultan's private, ii, 30.
Secular saint on Mt. Zarhiin, ii, 173.
Seffian escort, 167.

province of, 166.
Seffians, character of the, 170.
Selam, description of, 112.

on European dress, ii, 50.

on grasshoppers, 232.

on Sultan's treasury, ii, 169.

on wonders of Mequinez, ii, 168.

tells the story of Aru.si, ii, 12'?.

tells the story of the bad King of
Mequinez, ii, 170.
Selam's reason for not posing, ii, 81.
Sella, Italian statesman, ii, 10.
Seplem fratres, the, 74.
Servant, our Arab, ii, 76.
Servants. Arab foot, 105, 124.
Seville, title-deeds of estates in, ii,
111.

Giralda tower, 158.
Shelal the Moor, 250.

the Moor, affairs of, ii, 101.

the Moor, dirt in the house of, ii,
108.

the Moor, tea with, ii, 108.
Sherif Ali, elected king, ii, 35.
Sherifian family of the Filali, ii, 35.
Shooting at a mark, ii, 82.
Shopkeeper, a, ii, 134.
Shopkeepers, Moorish, 31.
Shopping in Fez, ii, 77.
Shops, Fez, ii, 16.

Moorish, 31.

Tangier, 8.
Sick people come to see the doctor,
188 ; ii, 188.

people, manner of transporting,
ii, 202.
Sid-Abd-Alla-ben-Hamed, Minister

of War, ii, 6, 69.
Sidi Hassem, escort of, 220.

Abdel-Krim, 170, 171.

Sidi Abdel-Krim, system of govern-
ing the district of, 219.
Mohammed, reign of, ii, 36.
Mohammed, the victor of Tet-
uan, ii, 37.
Sla-Rabflt, twin cities of, 193.
Slave, a beautiful, ii, 109.
Slaves, negro, ii, 118.
Snake-charmers, 68.
Sok di Barra, 9 ; ii, 212.

di Barra, a festival in the, 58.
Soldiers' costumes, ii, 5.

exercises of the, at a ffite, 67.

of El Araish, ii, 204.

of the escort, villanous look of,

78.
of the Sultan, ii. 4.
vicious look of young, ii, 149.
Soloman, his power over demons, 41.
Soloman's seal, 41.
Somnambulism of vice-consul, 92.
Soudan, 19.
Sourdeau, M., his encounter with a

saint, 28.
Spain, trade with, il, 98.

war with, 81, 170; ii, 115.
Spanish war, prisoners taken in the
ii 117.
consul, 95.

consul, costume of the, 91.
hatred of the, ii. Ill,
Moors, descendants of the ii.

111.
renegades, ii, 88.
Spartel. Cape, 73 ; ii, 208.
Square of Tangier, the public, 8.
Stirrups, 77.

Stockings, an officer wears, 220.
Story-teller, Arab, 64.
Strait of Gibraltar, 3.
Streets, barricaded at night, ii, 61.
Stuffs manufactured in Morocco, ii,

96.
Suleiman, Emperor, protects the

Jews, ii, 63.
Sulphur springs, 168.
Sultan Abd-er-Rhaman, 81 ; ii, 37.
panic-stricken, ii, 118.
protects the Jews, ii, 65.
quoted, ii, 63.
Abu-Yussuf Yakub-el-Mansar,

158
El Reshid, ii, 35.
Mulai Abdallah, ii, 36.
Mulai Ahmed el Dehebi, ii, 36.
Mulal el Hassan, 15, 81.
Mulai el Hassan ascends the

throne, 202.
Mulai el Hassan, character, ii,

33.
Mulai el Hassan, described, ii,

44.
Mulai el Hassan, garden of, ii,
48.

INDEX.

225

Sultan Miilai el Hassan, grants pri-
vate audience, ii, 62.

Mulai el Hassan, last view of, ii,
153.

Mulai el Hassan, on needs of his
Empire, ii, 63.

Mulai el Hassan, our reception
by,ii,43.

Mulai el Hassan, presents of, ii,
158.

Mulai el Hassan, receives peti-
tions, ii, 147.

Mulai el Hassan reviews troops,
ii. 146.

Mulai el Hassan sends us his
greeting. 251.

Mulai el Hassan, speech of, ii, 45.

Mulai Heshiam, ii, 37.

Mulai Ismael, ii,36.

Mulai Ismael builds palace at
Mequinez, ii, 168.

Mulai Ismael , women and chil-
dren of, ii, 168.

Mulai Malek, 148, 149.

Mulai Sherif, ii, 35.

Mulai Soliman, ii, 37.

Mulai Yezid, ii, 36.

gower of the, 19.
idi Mohammed, ii, 35, 36, 146.
Sidi Mohammed, the victor of

Tetuan, ii, .S7.
Suleiman protects the Jews, ii,
66.
Sultans never cross the Sebd in times

of peace, 193.
Superstition about a pudding, 169.

about prayers, 74.
Superstitions among Arab peasants,

212.
Surgery in Morocco, 140.
Sword of Edris-ebn-Edris, ii, 24.

Tafilalt, ii, 35, 89.
Taleb, name for lawyer, 208.
Talismans called herrez, 164.
Tangier, ancient name of, 21.

by night, 12.

difficult to find one's way about
in, 42.

feast of the birthday of Moham-
med, 58.

gardens about, 71.

history of, 21.

how regarded in Morocco, 21 .

in the hands of the Christians,
ii, 112.

Italian legation in, 15.

Kasbah, 39, 81.

landing at, 4.

legations in, 8.

life of, 8-9.

market square of, 9 ; ii, 212.

minarets in, 39.

Minister of Foreign affairs, 80.

Vol. n.— 15

Tangier mosques, 38.

population, characteristics of,
5-6.

public promenade of, 41.

safety of a European in, 43.

setting out from, 87.

shops, 8.

silence of, 43.

square, 8.

streets, 7-8.

vegetation outside of, 71.

walks near, 71.
Tarantula, 190.
Taxation, 20.

of peasants, 213.
Taza, 193.

fortress, ii, 84.
Tgh'at, Mount, 252.
Tea-drinking among Moors, 49.
Telegraph, how Moors regard the,

ii, 33.
Telegraphic apparatus presented by

English Ambassador, ii, 32.
Tents for the embassy, 78.

assigned, 80.
Terrace, view from our, ii, 51.
Terraces, the property of women, ii,

51.
Tetuan, battle of, ii, 115.

furniture made in, ii, 97.

guns made in, ii, 96.

Sidi Mohammed, the victor of,
ii, 37.
Thief, dragged- through the streets,
ii, 16.

treatment of a negro, 34.
Thieving among the Beiii Hassans,
203.

in Morocco, 204.
Tinea, Bebel (or Ben), Gorge, 235 ;

ii, 181.
Tingis, ancient name of Tangier, 21.
Tingitana. Mauritania, 21.
TlAta de Raisana, 129, 138.
Tower of Giralda, 158.
Trade in Morocco, 20; ii, 97.

with England, ii, 98.

with Italy, ii, 99.

with Spain, ii, 98.
Traditions about name of Fez, ii,

21.
Transformation of Racma, 33.
Treasure, buried, 213; ii, 193.
Treasury, the imperial, ii, 168.
Tribe of Beni Mtir, 193.

of the Zairis, 193.
Trousseau, description of a, 48.

Umbrellas, not used, ii, 91.
Uniforms, soldiers', ii, 6.

second-hand, ii 13.
United States Consul, the, 91, 104,

138.
Ussi, Florentine artist, 16.

226

INDEX.

Ussi, paints picture for the viceroy,
ii, 79.

paints picture of grand recep-
tion, li, 78.

struck by a young girl, ii, 11.

Vad-Rason, battle of. 170.

Valliere, daughter of duchess asked

in marriage, ii, 36.
Vegetation about Tangier, 71.
Vehicles, popular dislike to, 234.
View from Cape Spartel, 73.
from Kasbah, 40.
from Mount Zalag, ii, 84.
of Fez, li, 17.
Vice-Consul. Paolo Grande, 96.
a somnambulist, 92.
his arms, 93.
his servant, 101.
Viceroy orders a picture from Ussi,

ii, 79.
Victor Emanuel, his presents to the
Sultan, 15, 233 ; li, 41.
Hugo, 190.
Victoria, buttons stamped with a
likeness of Queen, ii, 13.
carriage presented by Queen, ii,
41.
Vincent, Signor, 122.
Vinosta, mosaics for Viscount, ii, 75.
Vizier, Taib Ben Jamani Boasherin,
the Grand, ii, 55, 57.

Wagons in Morocco, 234.
Walks near Tangier, 71.
Walls of Fez, ii, 17.
War, the minister of, ii, 6, 60.

the Spanish, 81, 170 ; ii, 115.
Warfare, Moroccoan method of, ii,

117.

opinion of European method of,
ii, 115.

Warnir, river, 149.

Washing clothes, Moroccoan method

of, 195 ; ii. 77.
Washwoman, our, ii, 77.
Wazan, Kaid of, ii, 173.
Weddings, among Arab peasants,

210.
Whip used for the slaves, ii, CI.
Whipping a boy, 237.

a soldier, if, 183.

a thief, 34.

as conducted in Morocco, 238.

when abolished in Europe, 238. -
William of Orange at battle of Al-
cazar, 148.
Wine, 169.

attempts to get some, ii, 59.

soldiers ta.ste. 249.
Women, Arab, appearance, 34.

consult the doctor, 188.

cover their fsf es, 34.

description of, 35.

modesty of, ii, 8:^.

of Fez, as seen from our terrace,
ii,51.

of Fez enjoy seeing us, ii, 110.

of Fez, mannerof painting them-
selves, ii, 52.

Yembo, ii. 35.

Zairis, tribe of the, 193.
Zalag, a.scent of Mount, ii, 83.

shape of Mount, ii, 84.
Zegotta, 238.

an experiment made at, 239.
Znouias, 154.
Zarhi'm, Mount, ii, 173.
Zef, traditional site of city of, ii, 22.
Zilia, Carthaginian name for Azila,
H, 210.

f

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

Dt